Beauty is in the eye…

this is a shot off the cliffs in laguna beach.  we were there yesterday.  it was an absolutely amazing day.  my first full-time, full-pay, full-responsibility youth ministry gig started in 1980 in huntington beach, just up the road about thirty minutes from laguna.  we were there from 1980 through 1990.  still hard to believe this was our home, at one time.

we spent the evening with some old friends last night…reliving the past…enjoying the cool (no more of that stinking 72 degrees…it was in the 60’s)…and remembering how good it is to know that ultimately, god is still god, no matter what.

as i laid in bed last night, i thought about location.  yeah, location.

there’s a reason people vacation in southern california…or hawaii or colorado or canada or florida or other parts of god’s creation.  because it’s beautiful there.  and it’s usually different.  hey, when we first moved to texas, it didn’t take long to learn that, if they could, people left during the summer!  you can only hang out in the malls and movie theaters so long.  when people came back, they would tell stories of the beaches in florida or the alpine air and mountain peaks of the rockies or the stunning mountain lakes up north…

now here are two things i’ve learned on this topic:

one…beauty is everywhere.  it’s pretty hard to top what we experienced in laguna yesterday.  but it’s also pretty hard to top some things back home in texas.  people in so cal don’t get to see the stars like i do…every night!  oak trees and lakes everywhere.  i’m still amazed at our thunderstorms and sheet lightening.  i run outside and watch every time.  the first real day of fall, when the temperatures dip into the 70’s during the day, is like being reborn.  it’s beyond description.  i can get rain, sleet, snow, wind, blue skies and 70 degrees…all within the span of 24 hours!  the budding of trees in the spring and everything turning green again is something i never experienced in southern california.  i get it every year now…and would never want to miss it again.  wildflowers.  say no more.

to the smug of texas, they see no beauty in southern california to write home about.  to the smug of california, they see no beauty in texas that would even compel them to visit our great state.  mmm…  to the smug i say this:  get over yourselves!  there is beauty everywhere!

the second thing i know is this:  i learned this lesson years ago in my early days of youth ministry…fun is not what you’re doing, it’s who you’re with. our vacation has certainly been a sensory feast, but what has meant the most to us has been spending time with people.  the conversations.  the laughter.  the memories.  the stories.  and it wouldn’t matter to us if it was on the beach or a fancy restaurant or on a worksite in mexico on a mission trip…it’s all the same.  people are what make things fun.  not the destination.

in a couple of days we will begin our trip home…a 24 hour trip, mostly through the desert of california, arizona and new mexico, and then through the panhandle of texas.  let me think…laguna beach or vernon, texas…oh yeah.  there’s beauty everywhere!