This past Sunday I got up for the sunrise on a beautiful Guatemalan beach, where I then got to watch 200 baby turtles being released into the ocean. Many of them ran fast to the sound of the crashing waves, but some couldn’t quite find their way. After they had all gotten to the water there was one left who would get really close to the shoreline, but would then turn around and run back up the sand. I was frustrated watching because I was like “come on you’re so close why do you keep turning around?!” Then I realized I had been that turtle for the past 18 years of my life.
I would get so close to the Father’s arms and then I would turn around and go towards something more familiar and comfortable. All the turtle knew was the sand, so the sound of the crashing pacific waves was probably scary for him, but if he never would have gone into them he wouldn’t have been able to survive. If I never would have ran into the Father’s arms I would have just been living a life that would have ultimately lead to death. Yeah sure its easier to waddle up to the dry sand instead, but there is nothing there for us.
Our hope is in the waves.
Eventually the little turtle stopped running away from what scared him and ran to the water, letting it take him into a new life. His decision was costly, he would no longer get the comfort of the warm sand or his friends to live with, but now he was on a new adventure, full of new beginnings.
We have that same decision in front of us everyday. We can sit in the warm sand, surrounded by our comforts forever, or we can run into the waves of freedom. We can choose the new adventure that holds so much more than that dry beach ever did. 
