beach glass

It's been awhile since my last blog, and I apologize for that. It's been a bit of a bumpy few weeks, but I will say that I've been learning a lot about myself. I've learned quite a bit about hurts and pains that I didn't realize I had until circumstances, harmless ones at that, came up and made me face some demons that I didn't even know existed. But Chris is extremely understanding and patient with me, and as time has gone on he's beginning to understand who I am, where I've come from and how I got to be where I am today.

Friday was my day off and after spending the night before up until all hours of the night talking, laughing, movie watching, ice cream eating, and Settlers of Catan playing I decided to get up super early and go to the beach for some time with God and to go hunting for some beach glass. I made it to the beach at about 7:30 and departed down the beach on my quest. It was amazingly beautiful. I got to see the moon set over the water of the lake and it was such a cool experience. The sun was beginning to rise behind me, but I was caught in the moment of looking at the moon disappearing to wherever the moon goes when it's time for the sun to shine. As I slowly made my way down the beach searching for beach glass I noticed a set of footprints, and realized that my journey on this beach would probably be in vain considering the fact that these footprints probably carried someone who was a veteran beach glass collector. And I was correct. I walked down the beach for awhile and after about an hour found my way back to my point of origin. It was still really good, quality time on the beach with God, so I wasn't willing to call the morning a failure, but I was considering heading home and disassembling my morning quest for beach glass. But just before I pack up to head home I see some guy running towards me waving. I can only assume this to be Chris, as the "night before" I mentioned earlier was spent with Chris, his wife Candi, and my partner intern, Alecia. And toward the end of our evening adventures I expressed an interest in going beach glass hunting, so we just happened to stumble across one another on this crisp, early, autumn morning.

Chris advised me to walk the opposite direction from where I'd come and offered some pointers on where to go, and what to look for on my search. He almost lost me when the words "two miles" came out of his mouth, but then I decided, what the heck, got nothing better to do today anyway, and figured I could end the morning whenever I wanted to anyway. So off I go, in a different direction, on the same mission: beach glass. And when I found my first piece of beach glass I can't even begin to tell you how excited it made me. Then after that, it was one piece after another, and another, and another. About three hours, and a little more than two miles later I returned back to my starting place with a pocket full of beach glass. But about half way through my endeavor God offered me a revelation, a new perspective regarding Him, His word, and my newfound love of beach glass.

The thing to understand about beach glass hunting is that it takes time, patience, and in some cases a little work, and maybe even getting a little wet. =) In some cases, I did just happen to stumble across a piece of beach glass, but in most cases it involved a lot of squinting, digging, and picking up things that well, just weren't beach glass. Then I began to think about my experiences with reading the Bible, and how similar it really is to searching for beach glass. We all go into reading the Bible with some expectation, some hope that God is going to show us something either about himself, us, or even our relationship together. And sometimes it can feel like we walk away empty-handed. Like we just don't really understand what that certain passage is talking about, or really unsure about how it might apply to our lives today (can I get a Leviticus amen?) Other times we just open our Bibles, and we stumble across something that really grabs us. Or maybe there are times where we just dig a little deeper and then we find it, that nugget of truth or big piece that we just needed at the right time. But one of the coolest ways is when we read something, maybe it's something we've read before, or maybe it's something brand new, and we don't get it right away, but we eventually just have an amazing "ah-ha" moment, where God reveals something beautiful and amazing to us, that we didn't see before. There were several moments in my beach glass excavating where I would be looking in a patch of rocks for some beach glass, and nothing, but then a wave would lap up, slap me in the leg, and then pull back some sand and rocks to reveal something beautiful, that I didn't see when I first looked. One of the best pieces of advice that Chris gave me about searching for beach glass was that I need to look in the same places I looked when walking down the beach, because coming at it from a different angle or perspective could allow me to find things I missed the first time around. And isn't that so true with God's word? Life, circumstances, things happen, and all of a sudden, words that we've read dozens, hundreds of times even are revealed in new light based on the perspective we come from? God's word is dynamic and ever moving, but it never changes- though sometimes we do. And that can make all the difference.

I'll be honest with you, reading the Bible doesn't always come easy to me, and it's not always something I find myself wanting to do. But when I do, I'm always amazed and astounded at the things God shows me and teaches me a long the way. But I have to stay active, and looking. That's what I have to constantly remind myself of. God will show up, but I have to as well. And when I show up, and am expectant that God is going to be God and do some awesome and amazing things, I'm never disappointed. But when I show up and allow life's disappointments to jade me and my experiences with God, I'm blinded and I don't always see how He works or where He is. I now have a beautiful, unique collection of beach glass that helps to remind me that I've gotta keep looking, I've gotta take the time, look around, maybe even dig a little, and God will show me something beautiful and unique, just for me. And that's another thing. My friend Chris, has an enormous, beautiful collection of beach glass- but it's not the same as mine. The individual pieces are different, some are small, some are big, some are different colors, but his collection and mine aren't the same. And if I would have gone to the beach that day and expected to find all the same pieces I would have been sorely disappointed. I mean for one, Chris has been doing this a lot longer that I have, so he's got a lot more to show for it- just like our walks with God. Some of us have been doing it longer than others. We've been different places, have different experiences and perspectives that bring us to different places with God. And each piece, is unique, and different. Just like us. And I can't imagine God would have had it any other way.