If I could fly on the wings of dawn,
    stopping to rest only on the far side of the ocean—
         even there your hand would guide me;
        even there your strong hand would hold me tight!

Psalm 139:9-10

Andrew, Alicia, and Mr. T. are on their way back to Bahrain. We are sad, of course, but this was a most wonderful visit and we are grateful in every way for the blessing of such a relaxing, enjoyable time together.

I am especially happy that I had such a great opportunity to do my grandaddy thing with Mr. T.. It’s a hard ask to build relationships from over 7,000 miles distance, and even more so with a child so young. Mr. T. is a bright, active, extremely enthusiastic, strong-willed three-year old with his own way of seeing the world; I can’t just say “hello” and expect instant grandaddy cred!

So Rebekah and I were very glad when Andrew and Alicia decided to go out on a date night and leave him at the cottage with the two of us. The plan was for them to walk the two and a half mile footpath into Rye, then have me pick them up after dinner late in the evening.

Consequently, Mr. T. said goodbye to his mama and daddy just before six o’clock. He cried when Andrew put him in my arms and that lasted for – count it – less than ten seconds. He immediately stopped when I asked him to show me something that he’d been working on, and we never looked back.

We played together, Rebekah read with him, he sat at the table with us for dinner, he followed directions, he happily picked out a bedtime book for me to read to him, and then – something that showed me how much he was trusting me – Mr. T. asked me to lay down with him when we put out the light. He went to sleep with his little head snuggled into my arm.

Definitely a watershed experience for me. I am grandaddy happy in the best way.

We all left the house at 5:00 this morning, driving to pick up the train in Hastings and then on to Gatwick for their flight – via Istanbul – back to Bahrain.

On our own now…

Which means Rebekah and I now have the last few days of this vacation to enjoy some time together at exactly our own pace. We started with a long relaxed walk across the dunes and down to the beach.

The tide was at its lowest point and we were able to note the moment it turned. With such a shallow gradient the sands go out a very long way, and once it starts to come in the water literally races, quickly isolating certain areas of the beach and cutting them off.

We had the place to ourselves, wandering in absolute quiet, listening to the sound of the waves, and Rebekah was able to persuade her still-healing feet to make it to the top of one of the largest dunes and the fresh air and the view and the peace were all overwhelmingly beautiful.

This location is absolutely one of those “thin places” where God is so close and so accessible. I believe it is because we are hitting God’s kind of rhythm this week, the easy pace of listening to one another, the ebb and flow of the tides, the breathing in and out of this good Earth, the right kind of peace where we can listen to the whisper of eternity….

Love and blessings – DEREK