I wish y'all could have been with us last week in Florida. We had, quite possibly, the best vacation we've ever had - a whole week of laziness shared with two wonderful friends. Stan and I were on the beach most mornings before it was completely daylight; the sunrises were spectacular. We loved to see what the high tide had left us during the night. I was not particular at all; I mostly just picked up pieces of shells that had pretty colors. (The broken ones were actually my favorite!) I felt like I was doing the adult version of an Easter egg hunt. (But we were not in our Easter finest - oh my goodness, we looked like bums most mornings. Beach bums. And that saying about "beach hair, don't care" . . . It doesn't matter if you care or not, I did not get one picture that did not have my hair standing straight up.)
So we would look for shells and then come back to our quite comfy condo, eat breakfast and then go back to the beach. It wasn't too hot; it wasn't too cold; just right, baby bear. So unless we were eating (sorry, but we even took that to a new limit), we were on the beach literally from sunup to sundown. We had the beach almost exclusively to ourselves. And I was so very very happy!
One morning as I was walking down the shoreline, I was having trouble finding much of anything "shell worthy". So I thought (not prayed - just wished) "Lord, I'd just love it if a big shell would just wash up in front of me." There were lots of possibilities, but nothing washed up that I liked well enough to put in my Walmart bag. I didn't give it much thought until the next morning as I was out at sunrise. I had gone up the shoreline a ways, back to the same spot I was the day before when I was wishing for a big shell. Something caught my attention and I thought it was just a small, yet beautifully colored shell. I hurried to scoop it up before the waves came and knocked me over, but it wouldn't budge. I called Stan over to help because I didn't want to scoop up a critter. He uncovered a huge shell, perfectly formed, and beautifully colored. I almost shed some tears over that, because I realized then that the Lord not only answers our prayers, sometimes He answers our wishes too. I learned a lot about my Heavenly Father at the beach last week.
1. I especially loved the broken shells. I saw them not as something to be tossed aside, but as something that was still beautiful, even if only just a small piece. I collected hundreds of these because I knew I could make something pretty and memorable even from the fragments. When we come to the Lord, we come to the Him in broken pieces, and He loves us in spite of how we are, and He gently puts us back together.
2. I loved all the different shapes and sizes and colors. Each shell was different from the thousands surrounding it. God doesn't expect us to be like anyone else; in fact, that's not what He wants at all. He created us to be US. We each have a unique and special purpose that only we can fill.
3. Some shells I really had to work at to get. Sometimes I had to avoid the jellyfish that had washed up on shore. Sometimes I had to hurry to beat the waves because it just wouldn't be pretty for an old fat girl to get knocked down in the water. Sometimes if there were others on the beach, I had to hurry to get a special shell I had seen from a distance because I wanted it to be MINE. Have we prayed for a friend or loved one to come to the Lord, yet it seems that the struggle is almost impossible? Our job is to pray and love and be an example; God will convict and change hearts. It's not always easy to get someone to come to the Lord. But oh, what a blessing when they do!
4. I had a special project in mind for each and every shell I found. (It may take me years, but I've got a plan!) If God knew us in our mother's womb, He already had special projects in mind for each and every one of us. There are some jobs that only WE can do, no matter how large or how small. Nothing is insignificant to God. What if you declined His project? Who would get your blessing?
5. I especially liked the iridescent shells and collected them separately from the others. I liked them best as a group together. Although at first glance they all looked very similar, each one just enhanced the beauty of another. Beauty is sometimes magnified in a group. Jesus laid down His life for His church and from the very beginning of time He set aside a day of rest for us to worship Him. He loves us individually, but how He must smile when He sees us all coming together in one accord!
6. I didn't find one single shell until I went to the beach and put in a little effort to get it. I had to go to the shells' environment, not mine. When Jesus issued the Great Commission, He instructed us to GO. I don't know about you, but I don't recall anyone ever just showing up at my door wanting to know about my relationship with Jesus Christ.
So as much as we loved every moment of this amazing beach vacation, we are so happy to be back home to the snow flurries on our little mountain. I will always cherish the quiet moments I had with God on the beach. I will treasure the shell that I wished for and got quite unexpectedly. But as much as I love home in my little corner of the world, I can't help but get excited at the prospects of another home that's waiting for me in Heaven! I want to leave you with the words from an old Gaither song that has always been special to me. I mentioned early on that I especially loved the broken shells. I, too, was once a very broken shell.
Something beautiful, something good; All my confusion He understood. All I had to offer Him was brokenness and strife. But he made something beautiful of my life. If there ever were dreams That were lofty and noble, They were my dreams at the start. And hope for life's best were the hopes That I harbor down deep in my heart. But my dreams turned to ashes, And my castles all crumbled; my fortune turned to loss. So I wrapped it all in the rags of life And laid it at the cross.
Something beautiful.