How Is Your Search For Sea Shells Going?

This last weekend we went to the beach. We had a ton of fun, got sunburns and so many other adventures. Today I want to share a lesson I learned from the beach. So the ocean goes through cycles of high tide then slowly back to low tide and then back to high tide and on and on. When high tide comes in many times shells and other such creatures get carried to shore and get stuck in the rocks or sand so they don't go back out into the ocean. 

With the extended family we came with, everyone left either Saturday night or packed up Sunday morning and headed out. Our family packed up and then headed down to the beach for one last walk along the beach. High tide had passed and we were able to look for what the tide had brought in. This beach is not known to have a lot of shells, I’m not sure if it’s because so many people visit the beach or what but as we searched we found quite a few broken pieces of shells and a few really cool half shells. 

If we wouldn’t have taken the time to go back down and search for them we would have missed them. Some of you would have been okay missing those shells. Some of you might think getting home was more important than looking for shells. Others of you may say that’s cool, if I knew there were shells I would have wanted to look for them too. 

In life I believe we all are looking for something specific. It can take patience to wait till after high tide to find those treasures. You may get a little wet, you may have to wash your feet off again so you don’t have a bunch of sand in your shoes. You may have to delay getting home so that you can take time to find those shells. For our family, it was worth it. The kids started off the trip home having had some exercise, having the peace of the ocean, and they got to explore and use their imaginations to find fun things. It was like a treasure hunt and they were loving every second of it. 

Is there something in your life that you are looking for but you aren’t sure where to find it, or when to find it? I believe one of those things we are all searching for is peace and little nuggets of truth. One of the ways I’ve been able to find peace is through gratitude. When I choose to wake up early, and somewhat go on a detour from what I need to accomplish that day, to write in my gratitude journal my day goes so much smoother. I am able to see the hand of God in my life and I’m able to find the little shells of joy that I wouldn’t have been able to find if I hadn’t taken that little extra time to write them down.