Water is unstoppable. It can seep through the smallest pinprick and burst a dam. Video clips of mountain-tall tsunamis show the power and intensity of an uncontrolled flow. Even ocean waves change with the seasons, triggered by solar and lunar gravitational pulls.

When the season and the weather permit, invite your kids to step into the wet with you. Feel the splash, smell the brine, and hold hands as you prance and dance in the billowing waves. It’s wonderful fun.

Show your younger children how to draw a picture in the soft, wet sand and watch the surf inch up and erase it. Then engage them in a search for seashells—all shapes and sizes. They make great souvenirs of your day at the beach.

Stronger swimmers may feel comfortable going out farther, but help your younger children stay secure by remaining in shallow water. Kick up the water and splash until you’re laughing. Do-si-do and around you go. If you tumble into the spray, come up laughing. A gentle, lolling seashore on a sunny day can make anyone forget the storms that sometimes batter the coastline.

Dancing with your children in the waves gives a new perspective. Point out to sea, where the water seems to stretch impossibly far; talk about how tiny you are. Yet remind them that God has His eyes upon you as you dance and laugh together in the sunshine.

When we jump, twirl, spin, and whirl in His wildness, we find a place of peace. Sometimes a wall of water can come along to knock us down. Teach your children to be thankful that His hands hold them safely even amidst the somersaulting waves of the unpredictable sea of life.