Ocrakoke - Day Two, An Alzheimer Journey

I was drawn to a couple at breakfast this morning.  Sitting alone, I had seen them at the restaurant the night before, eating with friends.  Turns out we are staying at the same Bed and Breakfast.  As I filled my coffee cup, I noticed them praying together, leaning towards each other and holding hands.  Once they were finished, I asked if I could sit with them.  “Of course.” she said.  They had moved to North Carolina from New York and had been on this island hundreds of times.  I asked how they found North Carolina and they told me their beautiful testimony of how they felt God had moved them here. Then she asked, “What about you?”   I said, “Don’t make me cry, now.”  It was all I could do to hold back the tears as I told them how I had a husband in a nursing home and that the last time I was here, he was with me.  They were genuinely interested and  kept asking for more, so I told them all about us.  Then, she said it.  She said, “You need to live your life, but God wants you to be faithful.”  That as such reassurance for me. I found this little path through the brush that lead out to a beach.  The path was thick with trees.  Thousands of them.  I thought, “If only trees could talk.”  At times I could hardly see the sky, but their was an occasional  handmade sign with an arrow and “beach”.  I kept following that path until I came to an opening.  Once I was out there, I began seeing all sorts of potential paintings.  The beach was so clear and beautiful.  But after a few shots, my camera battery completely died.  For some reason I couldn’t get frustrated.  It was ok.  It was as if God was telling me to stop striving. To quite trying to figure things out.  Today will be a day to relax and let go.  To “Be still and know that I am God."