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Previous Challenge Entry (Level 2 – Intermediate)
Topic: Beach (07/04/05)
I had to go to Australia to see the ocean for the first time.

Living in southwestern Ohio afforded very little opportunity to visit the beach, and my parents were not inclined to travel far for vacations. So I was eighteen years old before I saw the ocean for the first time on the coast of Australia.

But while I was there, I sat on the beaches and rocky shores along the eastern edge of the Land Down Under in quiet awe of the wonder before and around me.

Seeing a sky so much bigger than it seems to be in Ohio, the ever-pounding surf leaping onto the sand and rocks, the heights of the spray exploding from the waves as they threw themselves towards the shore, the sheer power of the landscape and the vastness of the empty ocean horizon miles and miles in front of me, I was aware of a world so much bigger than I am. I saw myself silent and small before such expansiveness. And I stood amazed at the God who created all that surrounded me, the God who had prepared it for my pleasure that day, the God who created me to enjoy it and to enjoy him through it.

I had to go to Australia to see the ocean for the first time. And I had to go to Australia to grasp for the first time how much bigger God is than I ever imagined.
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Member Comments
Member
Date
Nina Phillips
07/15/05
The little big story.
Nicely done. God bless, littlelight
Shari Armstrong 
07/15/05
From one Buckeye to another -if you're going to see the ocean for the first time -what better place to go! Enjoyed going on the trip with you :)
Beth Muehlhausen
07/15/05
I liked this line: "I saw myself silent and small before such expansiveness." Your story helped me remember how God continues to get bigger and bigger in my own life experience.
Brandi Roberts
07/17/05
A very good read, however I would have combined the last two sentences to minimalize the use of "I had to go to Australia". Otherwise a great read with a great depth. Thank you.
Maxx .
07/18/05
Writing style is very polished. So, why sop short? Skill like your should be expanded! Don't hold out on us! ;-)
Marcell Billinghurst
07/27/05
Very well written, I am so glad you were blessed when you came to my country, Australia. God recently stretched my horizens when I left my country to see discover the beauty of other countries around the world.