A Spring of Joy

Shannon at Rocks In My Dryer is a blog I read faithfully. Every day. She is an amazing writer gifted with wit, insight, intelligence and candor.

AND she hosts fun giveaways and contests. This week I am a finalist in her Haiku contest. A finalist! Me! Sooooo, here’s my shameless plug. Get on over to Rocks In My Dryer and vote for me, because I’ll win lots of cool stuff if you do. The voting closes tomorrow, so get on over there and vote, vote, vote. Winner is announced Thursday morning.

Apparently, my timing was off. Boogie board strapped to my wrist, knees bent, waiting for the perfect wave. I glanced at Bri, “I always get these wrong.” He laughed and we both watched as the wall of water I had been looking for began to form. It was huge, and I was ready. I jumped on the board just as the wave crested. It was a whole lot bigger than me, and as I began to move forward with the water, my legs were jerked out from underneath me–backward up over my head in an awkward flip. I was immersed in the dizziness of churning water, disoriented, sand stinging my nose and eyes, every sense heightened. I came up spluttering and coughing to see Bri doubled in laughter. Through it all I felt no fear, only joy. As odd as it might seem, I had never felt more ALIVE. And it felt good!

I’m spluttering! This is preposterous! In Canada a superior court judge ruled that a 12-year-old girl was “excessively punished” by her father when he wouldn’t allow her to attend a school camping trip because she broke the rules in her home. How did she break the rules? Well, she posted pictures of herself on the internet on a dating site. And her dad said she couldn’t go camping, so she sued him, and the court ruled in her favor. Read Albert Mohler’s blog for a great commentary on this ridiculousness. I’m speechless.