Confessions of a Dolphin Tale...

The Day had been rushed. Eating breakfast and packing a lunch? Check. Filling up with gas? Check. Church? Check. Volunteer work? Check. I was looking forward to a nice long drive down PCH from Dana Point when I came across a sign for Strands Beach. Strands Beach? I’d never heard of Strands Beach. What kind of name for a beach was that anyway? As I pulled into the parking lot I noticed the thousands of stairs going down the mountain that I would have to undertake to get to the beach. Still, something told me, “Go.” Okay, but not without my camera. If I was going to hike down a mile and half to come back up, I was going to get some good shots.

50 pictures of flowers later I finally made it to the beach, but even then I was busy. I instantly began looking for anything and everything I could snap. I walked about a half mile down the beach when all of a sudden I saw a group of people stopped just staring at the water. “What are they staring at?” I thought. “Surely the surfers can’t be that good looking. Solely out of curiosity I gave a quick glance. My jaw dropped. Before my eyes lay the most breathtaking and beautiful scene I had ever beheld. Sea gulls soared and sang overhead as the sun beams bursted brilliantly through the clouds. The waves and all their might crashed on the soft shore. But what caught my attention the most was what was in the waves. As if on cue, the moment I turned 2 or 3 dolphins leaped out of the waves. They were so close! They swam back and forth, jumping and twisting, and diving. I stood in awe for literally fifteen or so minutes. The only words I could stutter were “Thanks gorgeous” or “That’s so beautiful” over and over. It only occurred to me after I watched them swim away that I had a Canon Rebel with a 300 mm zoom lens around my neck. I’m still kicking myself for that one.

But then it occurred to me. God wanted to reveal Himself to me. He wanted to reveal His Glory, His beauty, His power, His Intelligence, His Creativity, and I was too busy to listen. It made me realize that I was too busy running around trying to fight my own battles, when all He really wanted was just for me to be still and let Him do his work. Let Him fight for me (Exodus 14:14) It seemed impossible, but if God could silence an entire army with 300 of Gideon’s men and pots, why couldn’t He help me? Heck, He’d already taken down one of my battles- stress- with simply a dolphin…