August 9

You know what's super? When you say "okay, God, please take care of this and make it work out the way you want it to work out" and then the situation goes exactly how you were hoping it would go -- in a totally perfect world. That kind of circumstance has been something of a rarity in my lifetime, but this evening I had one of those great experiences.

With just a few weeks until school starts, we finally got around to going on vacation, and drove down to San Diego today. After checking into our hotel at about 5, we decided to let the kids take a dip in the pool and then headed to the coast to catch the sunset over the ocean. I had no idea if it would work out; the beach at La Jolla Shores was literally packed with people and the streets were lined with cars. But as we drove along, I silently asked God to do whatever He wanted to do and help me to be okay with whatever that was. I wanted to see that sunset, but I also didn't want to feel frustrated.

As it happened, we would up finding a parking spot literally right across the street from an entrance to the beach. We got out onto the sand and walked a ways before settling on a spot to set up shop. Abby and I wandered down to the water for a few minutes while the boys all stayed further up the beach, digging in the sand and laughing.

And when the sun set a little while later, it was a beautiful sight to behold.

And miraculously, we even managed to take a decent selfie featuring no crazy faces and an actual view of the sunset behind us.

I know life doesn't always go the way we want it to. I know that much too well, I think. But it's such a huge blessing when we give our circumstances and worries up to God and He responds by delivering a pristine experience that's even better than we'd imagined possible.