This photo gives the illusion that I am holding a little lighthouse in my hand. It is really standing at a distance behind me. It just looks like it is small. This lighthouse is actually One Hundred Sixty Feet tall and was built in 1876. Later, construction of jetties to improve the Charleston harbor, caused erosion around it, so that now it is surrounded by water.

It was a beautiful morning walk to see this lighthouse. We were at Folly Beach, South Carolina, which is known as the Edge of America…being the further most point on the East Coast. Linda and I really enjoy having fun exploring places like this, especially those that we have never seen before.

To see the Morris Island Lighthouse at Folly Beach, you drive to the end of East Ashley Avenue. From there, it is about a mile walk round trip down an old beach road and through an area that is now a wildlife habitat for shorebirds and other critters. It is a pretty place with beautiful trees, salt water marsh, and palm trees.

Lighthouses have always fascinated me. They have been been described as … beacons of hope, symbolizing guidance, trust, and protection.

When you think about it, we all need lighthouses in our lives, that are true sources of faithfulness, guidance through the storms of difficult times that we encounter. I think about how God provides that for us during those challenging circumstances. He often uses special people to help us in the midst of troubled times, some we have known for a long time, others we didn’t know before the storm. God in His infinite grace and mercy, specifically places them there just when we need them the most. Often times as we look back after the storms of our lives, we are amazed how God knew just who and what we needed the most at key moments, in getting us through it all.

Jesus said “ You’re here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world… If I make you light-bearers, you don’t think I am going to hide you under a bucket do you? I’m putting you on a light stand. Shine! “ – Matthew 5:14-16 (The Message)

May all of us use the the life lessons we have learned to help others, and to be a little light… to help and encourage others.