Beach days

I am at the beach this week. It's raining now, so we are all taking a little bit of quiet time. It has been really nice to sit on the beach and enjoy not having to worry about much of anything beyond what you'd like to do that evening. It's also an incredibly fun place to people watch and just to feel part of something. This huge beach with all these people and families and friends enjoying each other while taking time to relax. It's really rather hopeful.


I have read three books so far (I brought 8 just in case) and I just finished one Lisa lent to me. I mentioned how much I love reading young adult books, and so she lent me "Stargirl." by Jerry Spinelli. It is such a lovely book with such an inspiring message. This girl exemplifies Romans 12:2: "Do not be conformed by the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind." The whole book is mainly about this girl who dares to be different by showering everyone around her with kindness. But the best kind of kindness-where most of the time, no one even notices that she's the one responsible for the nice things. She doesn't care about the credit. The book is filled with lovely ideas on how she keeps up her optimism. A few of them I plan to implement into my own life. I am looking forward to reading the sequel. It just gives you a bit of hope that optimism isn't some strange concept that is only to be squashed by the world. Instead, it's a God given gift that can lift the spirits of of people across the globe, and let them know they are not alone, and that there is someone (and some One) who cares about them.