07/13/2007

Yesterday evening our family went on a treasure hunt of sorts. Nick had calculated when low tide would reach the south jetty of Galveston Island, and so at 8:30PM we found ourselves walking along beaches that are generally covered by the water. Beautiful shells, huge crabs, and driftwood found themselves stranded on the shores. We gathered some of the shells, but were looking for sand dollars in particular. The sun had set and the temperature on the beach was wonderful! It was a little difficult to search by moonlight, but we had a wonderful time. At the end of our hunt we had located lots of sand dollar pieces, but not a single whole one! Still, I mentioned to Nick, these little pieces indicate one thing: there are (to be sure) whole, beautiful sand dollars to be found on these beaches. We just need to keep looking!

This morning Nathan slept in, and so I had some time for quite reflecting. Thinking back on those sand dollars, I found myself struck by this thought: There are little, broken sand dollars littered all over the beach of life; tiny pieces of creation that remind us of one thing--there is an ultimate, perfect specimen in our midst...we just need to keep looking. God is with us. He is here. He is real. He is perfect! He is lovely. He made us all in His image. Unfortunately, sin can leave us broken...just fragments of what we were intended to be. Sin tramples us like the sandal-clad feet of a tourist, like the harsh ocean waves, and like the unforgiving rocky shores.

In light of the fact that these little shards are reflections of our great God, they become much more valuable, do they not? I can think of people that I have viewed with more consideration to how broken they were than to how valuable they were. I criticize, measuring them against myself and concluding that they are inferior because they are missing larger pieces than I am. Yet, I realize that God looks down on all men and, while judging them justly, finds that they all have potential to be whole again, to be pieced back together, to be beautiful: all because of His Son.

His Son, Jesus, walked along the beach and saw the broken sand dollars lying haphazardly in the sand. He thought, "I see my Father in these pieces, and I have His love for these pieces. I am willing to die to redeem these pieces." Tonight we are going sand dollar hunting again. I think that the way I view those broken sand dollars will be different tonight. I hope the way I view broken people will be different tonight, too. All praise and thanks go to Jesus who sees us as we are and loves us just the same.

Even Then (Nicole Nordeman)

"...So, thank You, Jesus, even when You see us just as we are:
fragile and frail and so far from who we wanna be.
So, thank You, Jesus, even when the pieces are broken and small.
Dreams shatter and scatter like the wind;
thank You even then.