1. It's Rare. In a day and age where recycling and conservation is really promoted, there aren't a lot of people throwing glass bottles over the side of their boats. Thus, there isn't a lot of beach glass washing up on the shores anymore. So when you do find it, it's rare. It's like a special find.....it took effort and close observation. I love the rarity in beach glass. Doesn't things in life that are rare have such a greater level of appreciation than other things! Beach glass doesn't just show up everyday. It takes time to find and persistence to keep looking for. I've always thought this in life...that the best things to be seen and held in life are rare...but when you do find it, you hold on to it and cherish it.
2. It Shines. You know when you have found a piece of beach glass in the water because it shines compared to the rocks or sand it's surrounded by. I love the metaphor behind this. I think our lives are meant to be like this. When surrounded by dull things, we are to be the glass that shines for the world to see the hope that we have. Beach glass shines in the water even when covered by waves and sand....it always reappears with a sparkle and shine that isn't matched by anything around it. Like beach glass, I want my life to have that shine to it in a world full of darkness and dullness.
3. It' a Glimpse. Beach glass makes me wonder. It's only a fragment of something that once was larger. It makes me wonder what it originally was....was it a bottle? And if so, what kind of bottle was it? It's a glimpse of something much bigger. Kind of like my life....I'm never given the whole picture of what God's doing....just a glimpse every once in awhile. Enough to reassure me of something good and enough to keep me wondering what else He's' up to in my life.
4. It's Broken. When I look at beach glass, it reminds me of my life. It's been broken. I've experienced brokeness in many different ways. I've been through physical brokenness, I've been through relational heartache, I've experienced emotional brokenness and spiritual brokenness. The truth is, you will never find beach glass in its full original form. If you did, it wouldn't be beach glass. Beach glass is only beach glass because it's been broken by the waves and storms set within it's path. How true of our lives. In reality, we all are broken people living out our broken lives in a broken world. We are fragile. We like to think we are tough and can get through the waves of live unharmed. We can't. Even if a glass bottle is thrown to the waters as a whole, it eventually breaks. It's never going to be the same. But it's ok, because it isn't until something becomes broken that it can start to become beautiful again. Thus the next reason I love beach glass...
5. It's Refined. The longer it's been crushed by waves, the more beautiful it becomes. Glass just thrown and broken on a street is just sharp and hazardous. We sweep it up and throw it away. But glass thrown into the waves of the water and storms starts the process of being refined. The sharp edges start to wear down and over many many waves the edges start to become smooth and silky. I want that in my life....I want to know that my storms in life are making me beautiful. That the waves are causing my character and life to be refined. I want God to take the sharp jagged edges of my life and smooth them out so that people may look towards a greater beauty at work in me.
6. It's Family. I learned how to find beach glass from my mom. She taught me. Some of my best memories of being at the lake house in Michigan are walking the shore with my mom looking for beach glass. I've always told her that when (hopefully not soon, lol) she dies, I'll go for prayer walks and look for beach glass. And when I find one, I'll be reminded of her. She started the adventure of looking for beach glass and the collection she has is large. Beach glass reminds me of my mom, and that alone I love.
7. It's Beautiful. One piece alone may not look like much, but when you place all the pieces you have in a jar the effect is beautiful. It's a part of God's creation that tells a story. I see God's presence in beach glass. God's story is told through a small piece of glass and it goes like this....."I once was whole, but I was broken for you. So that you can have a new life that is daily being refined and molded into something more beautiful than it was before."
8. It Survives. Wherever the glass is thrown, one thing is true....the glass always makes it to shore eventually. Maybe not all the pieces, but some. However deep the water, beach glass makes it shore. It survives the wind and waves in time. It's never fast or quick, but eventually it washes up on shore. What hope that brings. Life isn't always kind to us....but eventually we see the light. We become more than conquers....we survive and live as something far different than we were but far more beautiful than we ever could have been without the waves and storms.
9. It has a Story. It shouts the verse Isaiah 43: "Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.....See, I am doing a new thing!"
No comments:
Post a Comment