souldare

“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.” (Matthew 11:28-30 The Message)

Something about being out of the normal routine awakens in me an acute awareness of the rhythms around me. I compare the routines of boat life with life back home, and often wonder why is it easier to live a simple life here. I think slowing down, and having different responsibilities makes it seem simpler, but in reality I do have routines and rhythms at home that are just as light and freeing as here, I am just more aware of them here. It’s hard to describe.

It’s not all easy living out here at the marina though. Some days the routines still become boring and the chores burdensome. The heat needs to be managed with fans and finding shade and going over to the beach where the breeze seems to always be flourishing. The food and ice have to be bought every couple days. Dishes seem to get done daily, because in a small space it’s harder to ignore the stack up. Laundry reminds you to do it, because there’s a pile of dirty clothes on the floor, where you need to walk to get in and out of the 10 feet of “hallway” on the boat. Every week, or sooner depending on how much sand we drag in, we wash down the back porch.

And because we are in such a beautiful spot, I want to be an  explorer and  a beachcomber and bike rider and kayak paddler and a shell collector, as well as the first mate who swabs the deck and musters up meals in the galley. The abundance here can be overwhelming, yet satisfying at the same time.

Here are some scenes from our daily life.

When the sun sets, we are tired, but in a good way. It’s not always easy to fall asleep with the humidity or the lights of the neighbors’ boats, but over all the quiet here prevails and the light rocking of the boat lulls us to sleep, until the bathroom call wakes us up or the dog puts her nose in our bed telling us it’s time for breakfast.

Then it’s another cycle of coffee making, sun rising, deciding which chore to ignore and which place to explore next.

In the next post, I’ll share our kayak adventure and my bike expedition down to Flagler Beach and back.

How do routines and rhythms show up in your life?