Celebrar la vida!

Celebrating life...that's the subject of this post and I dedicate it to a dear friend Glenda Evans. This is not my usual post of what we are doing in and around the island. I just couldn't do that today because, as I sit to write, Glenda is arriving at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston to undergo a radical mastectomy, her second in 10 years. I can't explain why I'm sitting on an island in the Caribbean only thinking about and praying for her while she's feeling, knowing, breathing, and living a situation that most of us cannot fathom, nor can an English teacher find the pathos to describe. What I can explain though is that Glenda is the epitome of LIFE although it has been declared that certain parts of her body are being destroyed by cells that want to take that life away from her. As I approached the beach this morning, for my daily exercise and time of reflection, it was for and about Glenda that I saw what I saw. For most of you the video below will seem like a tranquil, beautiful, early morning beach side scene, but what I usually walk out to each morning is a much calmer surf with the sun just beginning to reflect on the turquoise ocean. Today, however, the roar of the tide greets me before I even get to the edge of the park to step down onto the sand. It's coming in hard, the waves are breaking close up and way in the distance; the tide is coming in much higher than normal and bringing with it a murky brown stirred up by the rough waters. I think about Glenda, about the roar of cancer, the waves of uncertainty, and the desease that has perhaps discolored what is to her, without the cancer, a clear blue sea of all life holds for her future. Then I look beyond the crashing waves that are dragging in the murky tide and I can see the usual Caribbean blue in the calm distance. I look up and see the the early morning clouds, deep and heavy clouds, with the sun beginning to illuminate them from behind. Wow! God of the universe, You are ever present! As I said, this isn't the usual scene I come upon on calmer mornings, but my Lord in all His majesty is still there and all I have to do is look beyond the rising tide and the impending clouds....He is there written on the scene before me!  So I want to celebrate life with Glenda Evans today! She knows He's right there with her no matter what the tide brings her way, and He illuminates every breath she takes and the joy she brings to those around her. 

Below is a video of the the roaring tide coming in as the dawn broke this morning on Condado Beach in San Juan.  I must admit, it's still a beautiful place to be!  Below that, I thought it would be nice to "celebra la vida", or celebrate life, in dedication of Glenda today with photos of life, in the form of greenery, which surrounds us in the tropics. There's also a wonderful clip of the most beautiful sea urchin Wyatt and I came across recently as we combed a new part of "our" beach. Check out the life in that little guy, pretty amazing!

                                                                               

"Blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in Him. They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit"  (Jeremiah 17:7-8).