Goosebumps

It was real early in the morning and we had just moved to a tiny beach cottage on the sand at Capistrano Beach. That’s when I felt it. As I lay quietly next to my wife in our bed….it washed over me like the sweet fragrance of a foggy mist hovering over the early morning ocean waves.

My wife was sleeping soundly covers pulled up tight and she looked beautiful, so peaceful and relaxed, yet so very vibrant at the same time. I felt it and I sensed she felt it too, even in her sleep. It came upon us as if it were a silent message sent directly by God himself. It felt special, kind of like that feeling you get when a really great song comes on the radio and the singer hits that high note that makes your adrenalin rush and your skin explode with goose-bumps! As I looked at her, I thought about all the things we have been through together, the good times and tough times....and I instantly felt overwhelming love for her. My heart began to swell and my eyes began to tear….and I got goose-bumps!

I’m not sure what it was….but I’m going to call it an “eternal moment”, because it’s one of those moments that you know will forever be remembered!

An eternal moment is a moment in time when time itself doesn’t exist, where everything stops and you feel like, at least for that moment, everything makes sense. It’s a moment that fills more than just a page of your life, it defines your life and gives meaning to the person you have become. Freeze it if you can; savor it and immerse yourself in it for as long as you possibly can. Ten years from now, twenty years from now, you will still be able to recall those “eternal moments” in your life, for they truly are special gifts from God….The day you graduated, the day you fell in love, the birth of your first child, the smell of Grandma’s cooking, or maybe it was the day your Dad told you he was proud of you. Eternal moments are necessary because they remind us that beyond material possessions, there is so much in life to be treasured and most importantly that love is, and always will be, the greatest possession in life.

 

Very early yesterday morning a beautiful double rainbow appeared over the ocean in front of my home and it reminded me of how beautiful life can be when we focus on the right things. I thought about all of the material possessions I have had over my life time and how unimportant they seem compared to God’s love and the love of another human being. I thought about that rainbow and I thought about my wife still sleeping, comfortably warm in our bed, trusting me to protect her and blessing me with all of her love in return.

 

And darn if I didn’t get goose-bumps all over again!

A Double Rainbow appears over Capo Beach on July 2, 2012

 

Time is too slow for those who wait, too swift for those who fear, too long for those who grieve, too short for those who rejoice, but for those who love, time is eternity.      ~ Henry Van Dyke