Saturday had finally come!! At this point we had been to Mayo every day since Tuesday so now we were finally going to get to chill. So what do you do when you have a free day in Florida when the sun is shining??… Why you go to the beach of course!! And that is exactly what we did. We decided to sleep in just a little and then wake up and head to the ocean for the first time of the trip.
So we made our plan for the day and unfortunately, it was not the right plan. We put on shorts and t-shirts and were going to head to the beach for a few hours and then come back to watch some football, however, we got to the beach and immediately wished we had packed up for the day. It was beautiful!! It was our first time to the beach in a few years so that ‘first look at the ocean feeling’ was overwhelming. None of us talked for a while when we first stepped out on to the sand, we just walked around and stood in the water, soaking up the beauty of God’s creation. And what a welcomed break it was from the hospital walls!!
We didn’t want to leave but the longer we stayed without our bathing suits and beach chairs the more we regretted our decision. So we left to head back to watch some football. (Which I must say, not too terrible of a tradeoff : ) As we drove down Beach Front Boulevard we were in awe of the ocean side mansions and thoughts of what life would be like to live in one of them…ha. So although it would’ve been better to have stayed at the beach for the whole day it was still a good break!
So far I think I’ve kind of made it sound like all we had been doing was waking up, going to the hospital, and coming back to have dinner and go to bed, but that is not true. I just haven’t been relaying all of the non-medical details for efficiency’s sake, but I do want to give you an accurate picture of what the whole trip was like…
Most every night up till this point we had either eaten dinner with the family or been out to eat. One night we even went downtown to eat at our friend’s parent’s condo. They took us up to the 31st floor and we got to look out on to the river and all of downtown Jacksonville just as the sun was setting. It was breath taking. (And the wind was blowing just enough to make my hair flutter behind me, ha, and that always makes me feel like I’m in a movie or something. Goofy I know but it just has that effect : )
We had also been to the Town Center to shop and eat at Maggiano’s and P.F. Changs. For you Louisville Folks reading this, the Town Center is like the Summit on steroids times 10! It is beautiful and has every store you could think of and lots of restaurants as well. There is even one section that’s full of all the really fancy stores and it looks like you’re walking through Hollywood, especially at night when all the lights come on. The landscaping was also phenomenal. If you live in Florida I would imagine that palm trees don’t really have any mood altering effects on you but being from Kentucky and seeing as the only time I see palm trees is when they are a party decoration, I felt rather festive as we walked around and checked out all the beautiful stores. It was like the whole atmosphere was building up this excitement in me. Every time I stopped to look around I just couldn’t believe I was actually there! And the more I thought about it the more I was convincing myself that maybe my life really was a movie! Ha. It was all picture perfect… and it was that persistent thought that God kept using to lead me back to Him throughout the trip. He kept reminding me that He is the perfect one and He made the ‘picture perfect’ way for me to go to Mayo as well as get to hang out with my parents and amazing friends in this beautiful city. There is no other way that all this was falling into place but by the grace of God.
So if my life is a movie then this blog is like the narration I suppose, and here we approaching the climax of the story. Well it might be, or maybe we are coming to the grand finale?? I don’t know but I do know God can see the whole picture and that’s all that matters. Dr. Picco was acting as the quarterback of my team of doctors but ultimately God is the quarterback of my team and He is calling the shots. That visual became very real to me and when it truly sunk in I was overwhelmed all over again by God’s goodness. I know I’ve said it before but it is so true! GOD IS GOOD.
So we made our plan for the day and unfortunately, it was not the right plan. We put on shorts and t-shirts and were going to head to the beach for a few hours and then come back to watch some football, however, we got to the beach and immediately wished we had packed up for the day. It was beautiful!! It was our first time to the beach in a few years so that ‘first look at the ocean feeling’ was overwhelming. None of us talked for a while when we first stepped out on to the sand, we just walked around and stood in the water, soaking up the beauty of God’s creation. And what a welcomed break it was from the hospital walls!!
We didn’t want to leave but the longer we stayed without our bathing suits and beach chairs the more we regretted our decision. So we left to head back to watch some football. (Which I must say, not too terrible of a tradeoff : ) As we drove down Beach Front Boulevard we were in awe of the ocean side mansions and thoughts of what life would be like to live in one of them…ha. So although it would’ve been better to have stayed at the beach for the whole day it was still a good break!
So far I think I’ve kind of made it sound like all we had been doing was waking up, going to the hospital, and coming back to have dinner and go to bed, but that is not true. I just haven’t been relaying all of the non-medical details for efficiency’s sake, but I do want to give you an accurate picture of what the whole trip was like…
Most every night up till this point we had either eaten dinner with the family or been out to eat. One night we even went downtown to eat at our friend’s parent’s condo. They took us up to the 31st floor and we got to look out on to the river and all of downtown Jacksonville just as the sun was setting. It was breath taking. (And the wind was blowing just enough to make my hair flutter behind me, ha, and that always makes me feel like I’m in a movie or something. Goofy I know but it just has that effect : )
We had also been to the Town Center to shop and eat at Maggiano’s and P.F. Changs. For you Louisville Folks reading this, the Town Center is like the Summit on steroids times 10! It is beautiful and has every store you could think of and lots of restaurants as well. There is even one section that’s full of all the really fancy stores and it looks like you’re walking through Hollywood, especially at night when all the lights come on. The landscaping was also phenomenal. If you live in Florida I would imagine that palm trees don’t really have any mood altering effects on you but being from Kentucky and seeing as the only time I see palm trees is when they are a party decoration, I felt rather festive as we walked around and checked out all the beautiful stores. It was like the whole atmosphere was building up this excitement in me. Every time I stopped to look around I just couldn’t believe I was actually there! And the more I thought about it the more I was convincing myself that maybe my life really was a movie! Ha. It was all picture perfect… and it was that persistent thought that God kept using to lead me back to Him throughout the trip. He kept reminding me that He is the perfect one and He made the ‘picture perfect’ way for me to go to Mayo as well as get to hang out with my parents and amazing friends in this beautiful city. There is no other way that all this was falling into place but by the grace of God.
So if my life is a movie then this blog is like the narration I suppose, and here we approaching the climax of the story. Well it might be, or maybe we are coming to the grand finale?? I don’t know but I do know God can see the whole picture and that’s all that matters. Dr. Picco was acting as the quarterback of my team of doctors but ultimately God is the quarterback of my team and He is calling the shots. That visual became very real to me and when it truly sunk in I was overwhelmed all over again by God’s goodness. I know I’ve said it before but it is so true! GOD IS GOOD.
I love you. :)
ReplyDeleteThat was me, Romelia. haha. I just realized you had no way of knowing who that last comment was from because I picked anonymous. lol. I love you Kailen. <3 :)
ReplyDelete