Friday, July 31, 2009

Sea glass is so lovely

Taking a leisurely walk on the beach in the morning with the hubs, the ocean's frothy waves roll onto my feet and I spot a little treasure. You don't find too many intact seashells these days but you can still find wonders. Yesterday I began collecting something new...I now collect sea glass.

Sea glass is created when a piece of glass falls into the ocean. Stupid knuckleheads chuck beer and soda bottles into the ocean and the water and sand tumble and smooth the sharp edges. The result is pretty pieces of smooth, frosted glass in a variety of colors.

The more I searched for sea glass, the more I found!

Sometimes I'd find sea glass in a mass of shells and sand. I'd see slivers of shells made of tans and soft oranges and suddenly, a piece of sea glass in a minty green or a gentle turquoise would emerge. Or a beautiful piece of amber sea glass would peek in sand, the result of a wave. My heart skipped a beat when that would happen.

Later in the day, two of my OS joined me and soon we began a new collection...of shark's teeth. And then I began another new collection, I began searching for shells to spell my name. I thought it would be impossible to find a "Y" and no sooner had I said that, when I gazed at a shell in my hand and realized that a "Y" was carved right on the shell! Talk about fun!

But sea glass and I have a few things in common. I confess that there are some jagged places in my past and plenty of broken pieces. Life has tumbled me about and I have been tossed by the waves of the world. As I reflect on my life, the good and the bad, the things I did to myself and others and the things that have happened to me, I have seen how the Lord has used those pieces formerly tossed aside to ultimately make something of worth. He has smoothed out the rough places, (ok, some of the rough places as I'm an ongoing project!) and the things I assumed were junk and created a person of greater value. Like sea glass, I have experienced a transformation. I am a new creation. "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old is gone, the new has come." 2 Corinthians 5:17

We have one more day to go before going home. I can't wait to comb the sand for more sea glass to serve as a memory of what God can do for even a wretch like me.

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