Drinks, drinks everywhere.  My husband figures it's because people don't want to think of how much they're spending on their vacation and because they probably don't much like the person they're with.  I have to give him that.
     This week has been our first trip to the beach in six years, and even that was a disaster relief deployment.  This week was also our first alcohol free vacation.  I have to give him that, also.
     We had no plans for a vacation this summer, until one of our daughters accepted a job as a beach lifeguard.  Her Daddy wasn't "having it" without going to inspect.  Turns out it's a reputable company that's been there a long time.  The interesting thing is that there are hardly any Americans.  The owner said that their American lifeguards are "lazy."  Instead, they have foreign exchange students from all over Europe and Russia.  Our daughter is the only American girl.  She has YMCA life guarding certifications and work experience that must've paid off.  Her past swim team experience gave her to power and drive to swim the mandatory test, 500 yards in under 12 minutes, having practiced for less than a week.
     The day after we arrived we set out to find her at her post.  She hadn't returned from lunch, so we got to talk with her Polish trainer, who says he makes more money here in half a year than he can with his degree in his home country, which he returns to for the winter months.  He also said after working with her for a couple of days that she works harder than the last couple of guys he's trained.         After feeling more secure about her environment, we could relax a little and enjoy the beach and the pool with our younger two.  Then, my husband decided our daughter with the twins ought to come, also.  So, that child of ours packed up their stuff in about 15 minutes and drove four and a half hours by herself, arriving well after midnight, so the babies could go to the ocean for the first time, since they didn't have a plan to vacation either.
      Her husband stayed behind, still mourning the loss of his grandmother, who passed just after the babies' second birthday party was underway last weekend.  He kindly said they ought to go.  For the most part, we shored her and the babies up, and while we were busy enjoying their excitement, our youngest daughter was making a friend, from Ukraine, no less.  They played for hours.  Then, I finally met her six foot tall mother.  She was quick to let me know that she had a limited English vocabulary, although they'd been living in the states for over three years.  She's a stay-at-home mom and says even when she is out with other moms, they really don't talk to her.
      She was so very happy to have someone to communicate with.  She told me so.  I asked if they had only the one girl, and when she answered, "Yes, we have been trying for more than nine years, but I thank God for her," I was pretty sure she was a fellow believer.  So, I asked and she said, "Yes, how do you say it, 'Baptist?'"  I utterly loved hearing her talk, although she was often frustrated with herself to find the right words.  When I couldn't figure out what she meant, she would look away and whimsically say, "Never mind."
      Our girls wanted to go to the beach that night, so her husband and mine, and she and I got to talk while the kids looked for treasures in the sand and sculpted faces in it.  I asked her about church in Ukraine, and she said, "It is Orthodox."  Then she touched her heart looking for words and came up with, "Their heart is closed to God ...but our church in America, their hearts are open to God," as she looked up to the sky.  "I learn so much about God since I have been here."
      After the fireworks, we were walking back up to the hotel and she had her daughter interpret for me, "My mom says, 'You make her feel so free to talk.'"  I take that very seriously, especially considering they are here on political asylum, because of Russia's invasion of the border.  Freedom probably means a lot more to her in so many ways than it does to me.
      Last night, our girls wanted ice cream and to swim once more, but since a storm had blown through, it was too cold and windy outside.  So, we sat indoors by the heated pool.  Loud and hot as it was, I couldn't let her departure go by without a prayer.  I still feel uneasy taking charge of such a sacred thing, but I held her hand and before I could start, she smiled at me and said, "Thank you." After the fact, I realized I may have spoken too quickly for her to understood me, but God did.  And if there is one thing I have learned, it's that when we obey, God listens.
     And this is why we need to be sober on vacation and everywhere, because we just never know when these things are going to happen.