Ride the Wave

This weekend provided me with a big metaphor, and I felt that I should share it with you.

I am a huge fan when it comes to beautiful motifs I find repeatedly within a brief moment in time.  To me it feels like a gentle whisper from the Spirit, reminding me that Heavenly Father is not only looking out for me by providing me this beautiful message through nature or life, but he is also speaking my language.  I am learning that the Spirit is this amazing tool that speaks in specific ways to specific people and will speak to us depending on how we are listening, what level where are at, and what environment we are in! 

  Late Friday night my friend Liz and I decided to go for a walk by the beach near where we were staying.  We discovered that the San Clemente Pier does not close until midnight, so we ventured out onto the long wooden platform that stretches out into the dark waters. Yes, it was creepy looking, but rest assured there was a surprising amount of young people and families walking around, fishing, and taking pictures considering the time of night.  When we reached the very end of the pier all we could see was pitch black.  On the edges of the coast, southward and northward, we could see the city lights stop abruptly at what seemed to be a black wall.  Below us we could barely make out the outlines of the breathing ocean; its swells moving up and down, the ripples of coming waves moving slowly toward us, under the pier, ultimately breaking onto the shore.  I had never seen the ocean in this way before!  Liz shared this amazing analogy with me. She said something along the lines of, {I wish I could remember word for word!} "I was near the ocean one time and I started thinking about my life and certain unexpected changes and challenges I have gone and am going through.  I looked out and thought of this.

The ocean at night is this amazing metaphor: You can only see so much ahead of you into that darkness, just like the future.  We just have to trust God because he can see everything, and even though we don't know what kind of wave is coming, we must remember it will be beautiful because it is comes from Him!"

Then today another metaphor hit me, and it made me even happier because I could tie it into the first! 

Sister Price, our bishop's wife, made a remark to all of us after Gospel Doctrine class.  She stood up and said, "Please know that Bishop and I love you very much.  How do I know that the Bishop loves you so much?  How can a 64 year-old man be able to stay in the water all day and keep pushing out girl after girl on their surf boards?  I don't know how except for he does it because he loves you." Bishop and ten other dads from the La Cañada ward put together the 2nd Annual Relief Society Surf Day at Dana Point yesterday.  It was my third time ever surfing, and Emie's second time {she did it back in eighth grade!} and we were lucky to have the Bishop help both of us.   Sister Price's words helped me realize that in life we have amazing leaders, fathers, mothers, older and wiser and more experienced people who are there right behind us, yelling "Keep paddling!!!" and don't ever leave us alone in the ocean, or in life for that matter!  My parents are right behind me with my choices in life.  They say, "Don't give up!" when I feel frustrated about jobs, social conflicts, and even dating.  Sometimes Bishop gave us girls a push on a board to catch the wave, but after we got the hang of it, we starting catching our own waves! Even still, our "Surfing Dads" were still there when we returned once more to give us tips if we asked for it.  The best part of the surfing day was seeing Bishop's thumbs up and big grin after I finally caught a bigger wave on the shorter board.  "You did it Hill!  You figured it out!" as well as hearing other girlfriends and leaders on the shore cheering.    Great metaphor, right?  

We are surfing through life.  We might have a different board than someone else because we are going through different experiences. We don't all catch the same waves, but oh, when we do it is one beautiful moment! To be able to share the same struggle or even a triumph with a friend is a blessing; a cherished and special moment because we know almost exactly what the other is going through.  Francesca Ricci and I caught one or two of the same waves, and we couldn't help but laugh and shout cries of excitement as we were riding the wave simultaneously.  

(I took this in 2007 at T Street!  That's San Clemente Pier in the background)

I must say that after surfing all day and watching amazing surfers along the pier Saturday evening really got me thinking about wanting to surf consistently when I get back from my mission.  There is so much more I can add to this metaphor, but I will let you experience it on your own the next time you are on the waves or by the beach.  

Here's a great quote from a surfer at the end of Jack Johnson's "Breakdown"on the September Sessions album:

"I think one of the big lessons you learn about surfing is how to operate in the present. That's really what the entire foundation of the surfing experience is."

Take a deep breath, 

keep paddling, 

and don't look back.

Remember: it's going to be one sweet ride. 

(I don't think I took this picture, I just found it in one of my photo albums. Credit to, Em or Cara?)