Don had taken me to Carmel for a few days to celebrate our sixth wedding anniversary. That evening we found an outdoor restaurant where our dogs, Kelly and Paige, could be with us. Central to the eatery was a square firepit, with a young couple seated on one side of it. The waitress directed us to a table at a 45 degree angle to theirs.

After overhearing a bit of the couple’s conversation with our waitress, I asked “Did I hear you’re newlyweds?” They were. Having been married two days before, Braden and Rebecca then took the train from Abbotsford, British Columbia to California. As we talked and laughed we realized we are all Jesus followers. While we offered to buy them dessert in honor of their marriage, Christy, our sweet waitress, had already done so herself.

That was the first of a series of wonderful events during our relaxed, renewing time away. Don’t you just love experiencing God-moments? We napped, read, responded to a few business issues, walked Kelly and Paige, played ball with them on the beach, and ate with “the girls” on chairs beside us.

Our last morning there we ate our in-room breakfast, then drove to the beach. As we looked for a beautiful view (no bad ones in Carmel!) where we could read our devotions, we rounded a curve to see  the waters frothing white with foam. Gulls and pelicans flew and dived; seals swam; and literally hundreds of dolphins arced and played, getting their fill of the anchovies that have been coming into Monterey Bay in swarms.

Creation really speaks to me of the glory of God. Watching these sea creatures at work and play reminds me what a tiny part of God’s innumerable galaxies we inhabit, and what a teeny part of His creation is reflected in that one stunning scemario we observed. And I’m reduced to wonder.

Oh Lord, how majestic is Your name in all the earth.

You have made (mankind) a little lower than the angels
    and crowned them with glory and honor.
You made them rulers over the works of your hands;
    you put everything under their feet:
the birds in the sky,
    and the fish in the sea,
    all that swim the paths of the seas.