Footprints and Jesus

Today was the last day at the beach. It really is a remarkable place. All ages gather around the ageless sea. Little children splash in the shallow waters. Older kids played Bocce or volleyball. Parents sit and watch their children play. Those older still walk hand in hand along the shore. It was only a few years ago they played in the sand themselves. Now they walk and they look around at those who have not yet gotten old. There are few places where the generations gather and mingle the way they do at the beach. Maybe that is why I like it so. Today I sat and looked out at my own children who are now grown up themselves. Rachel and her husband splash and play knowing this time next year they will be anchored on the shore with their new born son. And I will sit with the other grandparents watching time march on. So, like every year as I watch vacation come to a close I resolve to enjoy the relationships that surround me for time is marching on. Here at the beach this is all too evident. There is also a reminder here at the beach that there are some things that seem to never change. The footprints in the sand are wiped away every day and every year. It is the ocean and the sand itself that seems to never change. In the fourteen years we have been coming here as a family the ocean and the beach look the same. And in fact they are virtually unchanged. Of course all of this has me thinking about Jesus. He is the One who does not change. I am growing older by the minute. Before I know it the small footprints I have made while on this earth will be gone and few will know I was ever here. And yet, there is One who does know I am here. There is the One who has walked beside me these quick years and cared about each and every step. One day all around me will change but that One. I will look back on my life and all the footprints I have ever made and they will lead right into the arms of this One who is my Beloved. G.K.Chesterton said one time that it was musings on Christmas Eve that finally led him to Jesus. He was looking at the stockings hung by the chimney and suddenly thought, "If my children have me to thank for putting candy in their stockings, have I no one to thank for putting two feet in mine." Footprints.