The Dolphin and the Eagle

Maybe she’ll see a dolphin. Dolphins have always been thing for her, an expression of God’s love, His presence.

‘We’ve been on some adventures, haven’t we Lord?’ she says as she looks out from the headland over the ocean to the horizon.

Over that horizon were islands she had visited. New Zealand, Tonga, Fiji, Samoa, Vanuatu, Tokelau, New Caledonia, Papua New Guinea. Those years were their first adventures together. A falling in love with countries and cultures, language, beauty and Him.

‘Those were honeymoon years,’ she told some new friends. ‘A rather romantic setting to be wooed by Jesus and learn what’s close to His heart.’

So many adventures since those years and she remembers the feeling of coming home from each one thinking, ‘Well, that was amazing. It would be difficult to top that!’

She finds herself now saying, ‘Not only would it be difficult, but impossible to top the last adventure Lord.’ Unknown and uncertainty now fill her morning cup of tea each day.

Yet her heart fills with gratitude for His faithfulness.

She looks down and sees a dolphin, rise and dive, rise and dive three times before she loses sight of it’s sleek body in the waves.

The wind blows her tears cold on her cheeks and she lifts her head. A sea eagle hovers just above her, caught in an updraught, its wings spread wide.

‘Under your shadow Lord, under your wings, lead me into the next adventure,’ she says, knowing it’s not always safe, not always pleasant, not easy. There will be sacrifice and struggle, yet the dolphin and the eagle remind her what she needs most. His love, His presence, His guidance, His shelter.