About six days into our vacation I realize the jaw pain is gone.
I’m sitting on a lounge chair, the palms blowing gently in the breeze. When I close my eyes, the rustling fronds sound like rain drops gently hitting cement. When I open them, I see blue sky, the sun blazing a strobe light of gemstones on the bay. A pelican glides in a figure eight, circling once, then twice, low over the water before arcing gracefully onto a mangrove bough.
I rest my book face down on the plastic table and wiggle my jaw back and forth from left to right. It’s true. The pain is gone. Every day for the last year I’ve awoken with a headache and stiffness in my jaw from clenching my teeth during the night. The dentist tells me she sees wear on my molars. After months of procrastination, I finally make an appointment to be fitted for a mouth guard after the first of the year.
And now, in the lounge chair, with a book in my lap and the salty breeze in my hair and two boys and their dad splitting coconuts at my feet, the pain is gone.
The iguana shakes his jowls, the tangerine skin like a scarf around his neck. He’s poised regal and prehistoric in the mangrove, surrounded by an entourage of pelicans and anhingas.
A motorboat hums in the distance. Hand shielding my eyes from the glare, I glimpse a boat trolling for barracuda across the bay.
The bikes at the rental shop wear red bows for Christmas. The palms fan their fronds like umbrellas. Noah swings, facing the sea.
Brad wrestles with the coconut husk, first with a hammer, then with a branch clipper, prying back brittle brown while the boys sit quietly on the hot cement, chins on knees. The outer shell discarded in shreds on the grass, he takes a saw to the inner nut, slicing it clean in two.
Coconut milk runs clear from a crack onto the pavement.
Noah drinks right from the shell, juice dripping down his cheek and onto his shirt. He holds the nut out for me to see – a core of pure white flesh encased deep in tough husk, like a pearl.
Every now and then I forget that God is always here, with us. Because sometimes it’s harder to see him, when children are shot and teachers die brave and news of a diagnosis literally takes your breath away. I need these days, reminders, when his presence is so obvious, it’s like a billboard on every corner. I need these days when it seems downright silly that I ever doubted.
The boys sit cross-legged in the grass, bowls of sliced coconut balanced in their laps while the iguana suns at the water’s edge, soaking up the last of the afternoon warmth. A pelican flaps his wings against the water, a sound like the soles of two tennis shoes clapped together, chunks of dried mud scattering into the backyard.
I close my eyes and feel the sun on my face.
For ever since the earth was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God has made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities — his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God.” (Romans 1:20, NLT)
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Oh, my, goodness, Michelle!!! You were so close. Welcome to my world. I can taste that coconut milk right now! Love, Patricia
I knew you were in Florida, but I didn’t know you were close to the Keys! No wonder you get such gorgeous pictures all the time (well, that and the fact that you are an amazingly talented photographer!).
You are not alone friend…we all need these days. What a beautiful reminder. Thank you Michelle.
Gorgeous photos! What handsome sons you have! And, I loved your reflection of how God is in all things always.
Blessings!
Wow! Beautiful pictures – and we live here in the Fabulous Florida Keys! So glad you had a good time – the weather has been perfect! And…there is nothing like fresh coconut 🙂
Can I just tell you how jealous I am? Maybe if I lived in the Keys I wouldn’t have jaw pain all the time!
I’m headed to the Keys for my first visit at the end of next month. Your post has me more excited about the possibilities than any travel book or website I have read thus far. I think I’m going to have to have a coconut while I’m there too!
Have fun!!! It’s beautiful and quirky – a great place to visit! If you get down to Key West, check out Louie’s Backyard for lunch or dinner. It’s my favorite restaurant…expensive, but worth it!
Holey moley, mama. This is glorious, glorious. I can tell from this writing that your jaw is unclenched – read it over and over this year, Michelle. Close your eyes and go back to this place because this place is where you soar. Oh, my. Thanks so much for this – I was right there with you, unclenching.
I should print it out so I can have it handy throughout the year. My jaw is already back to clenching!
This post is beautiful, Michelle. Your photos are amazing. Wish I was there instead of here.
I know what you mean when you say that we must try to remember that God is in our every-moment. It is hard when such horrendous things happen in our world such as Newtown. I confess, I questioned “Where?” He was in that awful thing. I had to force myself to remember that He saw it all, that He was there in many ways as help arrived. But it certainly doesn’t answer the “Why?” of it, does it? But He IS there…in the beautiful AND in the ugly. Maybe ESPECIALLY in the ugly.
How lovely! R&R time with family is truly magical, isn’t it? Such a blessing from God!
I feel like I went on vacation after I read this. Thank you.
Fun to see your boys. Only saw them for that short time last summer, but they sure got stuck in my head and heart. Did they bring rocks home? Glad you had such a nice time. A blessed time.
It’s amazing how vacation can cure those ills.
Here’s what I need: you, me, Deidra, oceanside.
Yes, yes, yes!!
I can’t offer tropical weather, but I can make room for the three of you and take you to the ocean. :>)
We have to find a way to make that happen. For real.
I am game, willing and able, honey. Got a queen and a trundle and extra bathrooms. :>)
California here we come!! Wouldn’t that be SO fun?!