The River That Leads to the Sea

On our recent trip to Charleston, the kids and I spent a lot of time at this beautiful area called Waterfront Park located beneath the Cooper River bridge. In addition to the beautiful, grassy lawn, spacious playground and ice cream and tackle shop, there is a long pier that takes you out over the water. You can fish from the side, swing on  a wide wooden plank swing, or do as we did and walk the length of the pier to the very edge. 

"What's that water?" Jacob asked. "It's the river that leads to the sea, Jacob," I told him. 

Tucked under the bridge, the pier felt quite safe and sheltered as the broad water between the shores rippled as they flowed towards their destination. 

As I spoke those words- the river that leads to the sea- I saw our sweet Jacob in that water. Bobbing in the gentle current, safely confined between the two shores offering their boundaries as a guide, as a protection. 

I saw the two shores spanned by the beautiful, strong bridge forged with steel and making those two shores into one. Separated no more, united in the same goal. Linking the edges and holding them firmly together. 

For now, our dear little ones will move slowly along, growing and learning within the safe confines of their shores. Sheltered from the raging storms of the seas, protected from the swirling eddies of an unpredictable and often dangerous open water. But still the current pulls them forward, and the two shores cannot stop their flow. 

I pray that my children will hide in their hearts the truths that will carry them through dangerous waters, that they will learn to love the charts that show them their path and keep them on course, that they will grow strong and swift so that when their river opens to the wide, wide sea they are prepared to pass under the bridge and away from the familiar shores. 

And always may they find their way back to the two shores spanned by the solid bridge, standing guard over the river that leads to the sea.