Insisting on the Beach

C.S. Lewis suggested as we approach God our desires are never too big; they are too small. We are too easily pleased. Lewis described us as kids content playing in a mud puddle because we have no idea what a holiday at the beach would be like. We are creatures of weak, small desires. As a result, we miss out.

We see this phenomenon all the time with our children. We find ourselves constantly pushing our kids towards bigger and better choices.

On a recent excursion to the coast, we repeatedly had to insist on the beach. The kids preferred the safety of the pool. They liked the familiar, the known, the shallow. But we knew over the dune sat the vast ocean. We have pools back home we said but no oceans. So we would insist on going to the beach.

Slowly our children came to embrace the beach. The endless playful waves. The sand a never ending canvas for creation.

I think they are better for it. A little braver. A bigger horizon. Another experience. And a good reminder to me.

I wonder what I may be missing just over the dune…