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Hey almost-August! I’ve enjoyed the late-July beach days.
“Cool smiles & Burning Feet!”
The 84 degree water temps rocked, but the 120 degree sand?! Different story!
Despite the fact that I had flops on, the soft sand kept flipping onto the bottom of my feet. Forget sunburn, this is the real scorch! Somebody must invent a shoe that’s easy to slip on and keep out the sand! Let’s go—I’m on it, “Shark Tank”.
Of course, if you’re running a marathon in the desert, footwear choice becomes simpler. Saudi Arabia’s “Desert Blaze 2025” is set for August 14-15 at the AIUIa UNESCO World Heritage Site. Runners will trudge through desert sands with surroundings of ancient tombs, sandstone cliffs, and rugged mountains.
In the U.S., YouTube influencer Ryan Trahan and his wife Haley Pham got an extreme dose of sand recently.
“Like Sands Through the Hourglass…”
This week, the duo just wrapped up their “50 States/50 Days”campaign for St. Jude Children’s Hospital. Each night they stayed in a different, very unique, Airbnb. Each day they dropped into, and profiled, a different state. All the while they raised millions (11.5 million and counting as of last night when they finished)! The above photo is the pair at “White Sands Park” in Nevada.
There are very few situations more daunting than childhood illness like cancer. But, somehow, humans rallying and showing they care can make things sweeter.
Interestingly, there’s a fruit that makes sour flavors turn sweet, when consumed. It’s used by chemotherapy patients. The “Miracle Fruit” is native to Ghana in West Africa. However, a farm in Homestead, in South Florida, has managed to cultivate it. The farm’s “miracle fruit cubes” are now available through the Miami Cancer Center.
There’s actually an old African fairy tale about a magician who lived up in a tree. He could make anything sour turn sweet, even people’s character.
“Gratitude sweetly marinates the mind.”
It’s kind of like the difference between a desert, and dessert. The scriptures talk about God’s promise in Isaiah, “…to give them bouquets of roses instead of ashes, Messages of joy instead of news of doom, a praising heart instead of a languid spirit…”(Isaiah 61:3)
I’m convinced that it’s not the mythical magician, but the very real Jesus, that can transform. Life takes grit, and sometimes it burns, but God’s promises are present. The Psalmist writes, “O God, your desires toward me are more than the grains of sand on every shore! When I wake each morning, you’re still with me.” (Psalms 138: 18)
Have an awesome week!
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