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Monday, May 25, 2015

Broken sea shells by the seashore

Our first full day of vacation and it has certainly been perfect in every way. The weather, the company, the snacks, the activities, everything. All of what I imagine and built up in my head and anticipated for this week all year has already culminated into awesomeness. 

My run this morning, although accompanied with some intense and excruciating IT band/knee pain, was gorgeous. My prayers were in harmonious solitude with the crashing waves. Our breakfast was large and filling. We played with cousins in the sand. We ate some sand with our sandwich. We already discovered the places where we missed sunscreen on everyone's body. We've had the perfect ratio of beach time:pool time. And most fantastically, there are no diapers nor swim diapers this year. HOLLA!!!

The girls have rekindled quite quickly their love for the ocean and the sand, and are a joy to watch playing together as best friends. I treasure these seasons because I know soon, they will be old enough to want to bring friends and that will bring a whole knew dynamic to our time together. Even better, they are now old enough with which to play frisbee and catch. And today we did the fantastic family seashell walk thing. Some of our treasures:
We versed only about a quarter mile strip south of our spot but it took nearly 45 minutes because we had some INTENSE searching for the perfect shells. I realized quickly that MY idea of perfect was far beyond what the girls saw as perfect. And it typically involves me saying "nah, that one is broken," or "ewe, that one isn't that pretty," or "we already have one sort of like that one."  Before they could get frustrated with me (I think) for rejecting all of their precious shells, Something changed my mind. M had just found this shell 

and the words "this used to be gorgeous, but now it's not worth anything. We don't need it" actually came out of my mouth and without stopping she tossed it. I then stopped dead in my tracks, turned around and picked it up. And thought about my own, broken torn up, jagged edged self that once wasn't worth anything. 

How grateful am I that I have a loving Father who isn't like the sea shell pickera we were today. He doesn't pick and choose us because of our current beauty.  He doesn't rescue us from being washed away because we are completely whole and put together. He doesn't save us and mold us because our edges and corners are so neatly rounded and shaped. Clearly. 

Instead, we are ugly, broken, messed up, missing the goodness in our life, have sharp edges that need filing down, habits that need to be broken, sins that need to be confessed, and DAILY repentance from a disobedience to the law of LOVE that we are called to. We are continually being molded and fashioned into a beautiful piece of artwork, a masterpiece for the Creator himself, who delights in the joy of seeing His very creation desire after him. 

May our hearts and bodies seek to serve Him, in our busy AND in our rest. 

And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. (Philippians 1:6 ESV)



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