Lesson from a Seashell

One of my favorite things to do is walk along the surf looking for seashells.  Most of the ones I find are pretty small, but earlier this week I saw what looked like a much larger one.  Pulled it out of the sand and realized it was broken.  Yet it was still intriguing to me so I kept it.  The same with the piece of driftwood.  You could tell by looking at it that at one point it had been in a fire, little black flakes of ash still fall off of it when I pick it up.  Despite the broken shell and scorched parts of the driftwood I can see the natural beauty in them.

I think too often when we look at ourselves we only focus on the scars, the black lines and ashes that tend to fall off when we get too close to someone, or on the gaping piece of our protective shell that is missing or cracked.  And if we aren't careful you can let that view taint how you see yourself.  Before long you can get in the downward spiral of assuming that if people knew about you they wouldn't really want to be around you or be your friend.  That they would pick you up and see the cracks and drop you back down in the surf, to be tossed around by the waves, hidden and half buried in the sand.  And maybe you do get picked up just to be tossed back down, but eventually someone will pick you up and see the beauty in the brokenness, the strength in hanging on in the midst of the turbulence and storms.  Much greater though than hoping someone else will see the value in us, we have God who created us.  While we might yearn for human acceptance, it is a comfort to know that God cares for us and that He never tosses us aside no matter how broken, cracked, how many pieces are missing or burnt we are.

So I'm keeping my broken shell and burnt driftwood.  Keeping it as a reminder that even in the imperfections of my life there is beauty.  And to remind me to look beyond the outside of those around me and see the beauty in them as well.