Since my earliest memories, the beach, sand, surf, shells, driftwood, and palm trees have captivated me.  In June, 1999 my husband and I spent the day on the shores of Hunting Island Beach over on the east coast. The beach which once existed has long since eroded away. The surf now pounds into densely overgrown forest and on a daily basis another row of trees falls prey to the non-ending onslaught of waves.

Hunting Island, South Carolina

It’s like a battlefield with an inexhaustible army of foot soldiers attacking and pushing back the enemy.  The trees fall prey to each new wave, falling where they stood, some forward, some backward, leaving a battlefield of decaying debris.  As I walk along the strewn carcasses I often walk into the surf to get past the tangled fallen “soldiers”.  Sometimes I must crawl over, and oft times I retreat into the front lines that stand ready for the next onslaught.

I find one gallant old soldier, possibly a once stalwart oak, who has fallen windward, leaving his roots exposed to the vicious attacks of the crashing waves.  By this time there are no remaining signs of life – just washed and bleached skeletal remains of a magnificent root system.  I climb up on the largest parts and sit for a while, contemplating the power of water as it swirls in frothy foam just inches below my perch.  I watch as the water slaps against the face of the worn- out old trunk, assaulting it with injury heaped upon injury.

I wonder about my awesome God who has put such a system of orderliness into motion.  The tides come in; they go out – the moon and all the wondrous facts of the universe working together in harmony, creating the gravitational forces which control these tides.  I marvel at the erosion on one beach and the birth of another as the sand redeposits itself elsewhere.  I think of all the changing earth around me, and the majesty at my feet.  I am reminded of the words of David. “The sea is His, He made it (Psalm 95:5), and I praise God in that knowledge.

Hunting Island Coastline is very different than the typical sandy beaches along the touristy beaches of Florida.  I think that is the appeal.  It is wild and battered, and like all beaches, ever-changing.

HOW TO GET THERE -(call before you go – recent hurricanes have caused damage)

Be Sure to Visit The Hunting Island Lighthouse

WEBSITE http://www.huntingisland.com/light.htm