This week I’m at the beach with a youth group but it is something of a working vacation. A customer had some emergency problems with his website today so when everyone went swimming I hung back for an hour to find a solution to the problem.

A short while later I found the problem, created a temporary work-around (until time will afford a better fix—like after this is published) and headed out after everyone. I didn’t see the group swimming and decided to hunt for them to the south.

Most of them would not want to walk more than half a mile but by the time that I had walked that far, the southern tip of the island beckoned. And I listened. I found out later that by the time I got back (it had been only an hour) that they had gone inside. Without knowing that, I walked even farther in the other direction. Google Maps says that the total distance (round trip) was about seven miles.

The walk was nice, apart from all the rather skimpy swimwear. Is it even possible to wear less for undergarments? Bikinis were created in 1946 to shock the world. In only 62 years the islands that they were named after have faded into obscurity and the pieces of cloth have become the norm. This is both sad and annoying for those who do try to guard their eyes and hearts.

Leonard Ravenhill has asked how people can really think that God’s spirit, which indwells believers (I Corinthians 6:19), will go with them to the pool when it is written that God cannot look on sin (Habakkuk 1:13) and we aren’t to desire another man’s wife (Exodus 20:17). Interesting question of his.

In any event, I did take the opportunity to pray while walking. I pity many of the kids for what clothing their moms are teaching them to wear. It was more than enough to remind me of my conversation with a woman on Saturday who honestly did not think there were any men left on earth who would wait until they were married before fulfilling all of their desires. There is much that people need to be reminded of.

Thanks to my wanderings, everyone got back almost two hours before I did. Yes, that is twice as bad as the MO trip (for those of you who remember it). They were worried so we calmed them all down. The theories expected the worst—such as a kidnapping by the maids—but thankfully nobody thought that they were seeing an apparition (this might be because I wasn’t walking on the water).

The only bad side effect is that my shins and feet are sunburnt. My neck, back and shoulders are fine thanks to the other walks that I take.

For the record, I do not plan such hikes to worry people. Honest.