SCUTE

A special thank you to all the summer guest bloggers who filled in for me. Their blogs were so well written and interesting. They have raised the blog bar!

Hope you had a chance this summer to enjoy some well-earned rest and relaxation.   Corrine and I, along with our daughter, Sarah, had two great getaways.  We went to the mountains for a few days and enjoyed the majesty of the Blue Ridge Mountains.  There is something mysterious and serene about the mountains that cannot be explained, only experienced.  One night, there was an amazing thunderstorm that lit up the sky as the lightning danced in the moonlight across the mountain peaks.  The best way to experience a thunderstorm is atop the clouds in the Blue Ridge Mountains.   Anyone else make it to the mountains this summer?

A week later, we headed south to our favorite spot at Litchfield beach.  As I have mentioned before, my time at the beach is defined by reading a few books, soaking up the mesmerizing rhythm of the ocean waves, and trying out new cooking recipes.  A great combination to refresh the mind and soul.  

A couple of years ago we reconnected with Corrine’s college roommate who lives in the Litchfield area and is a turtle volunteer.   I think the name of the organization she is involved with is South Carolina United Turtle Enthusiasts, or SCUTE.  Each day at 6 a.m., from June to October, Norma walks a three mile stretch keeping watch for baby Loggerhead turtle nests.

Each morning she looks for turtle tracks that will lead her to a nest.  She checks on the nest each day, where the mother has laid between 80-120 eggs,  until that special night when the tiny turtles emerge, chasing the moonlight into the sea. They follow the light that takes them to the place they were destined to enjoy.   A few of them get confused, and that is when Norma and the other volunteers gently pick them up and point them towards the light that leads to life.

Sometimes even we humans need a helping hand to show us the light that leads towards being all that we are created to be as a child of God.   I am grateful for folks like Norma who help turtles follow thelight, and I am grateful for the people in my life who point me in the right direction, check to make sure I am OK, and let me see the light.   And as we start a new fall season, I thank God for all the wonderful volunteers we have at Sardis, who let the light of Jesus Christ shine for all of us to see.