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Where’s your place? Where do you go to find rest, peace and clear your head? Do you have a place like that? I do. Beyond my love of that team from Chapel Hill, the Outer Banks of North Carolina are as close to perfect as I’ve found. It’s there that everything seems to make sense. It’s there that the pace slows enough to catch your breath and take an inventory of all that has happened. It’s there that I dream big dreams, pray big prayers and cast big visions. This all might seem a bit over the top, but Chase Rice said it best….

“When I need someone to remind me who I am……Carolina can.”

As much as our budget will allow, we try to make an annual pilgrimage to The Outer Banks. Sometimes we share the home with family or friends. Often it’s just the 5 of us. We write life stories by making memories that my children will carry with them forever. We reconnect after the busyness of another school year and all its activities. We learn more about one another. We set foundational stones for the storms that may come in the year ahead. This isn’t just a week at the beach. If you ask the kids, they will say it is. But my wife and I know it’s so much more. It’s putting down roots to hold strong no matter what the future holds.

Last year we landed in OBX and I was in a season of unknowns. I was pondering one job offer while waiting to hear about a potential second offer. I was coming out of a season I wanted to bury on those beaches. If I’m 100% honest, I began a year long season of sorting through my thoughts on one of the core principles of who I am. I did some business with God in early morning jogs and while sitting on our deck in total darkness of night. I even sat through the windy remains of a tropical storm that passed while we were there. It was rather fitting actually.

Tomorrow we begin the drive towards the Outer Banks and I do so with great expectations. Not that my kids will be perfect all week. Not that the weather will be perfect. Not that we’ll make Instagram and facebook moments – the best moments really never do. I go with great expectations of what the maker of the wind and waves and the silence of the moment will have to say. I go with an open mind to all that may lie ahead. Because….

“When I need someone to remind me who I am……Carolina can.”

#BeBrave

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