Broken Shells

This is a shell that my sweet Shepley found today at the beach. Bless her heart, she's been trying to come up with something to "collect" now for months. Today, we finally found something that she and I could both agree on--shells. So she got busy collecting her shells. Of course, not one of them was whole. She has a bag full of broken, jagged pieces of shell that each had some sort of quality that attracted her. This one was her favorite. It was actually the inspiration for her whole collection. She thought it was breath-taking. She studied the swirls and color and smoothness. She exclaimed with lots of "Oh Mama"s as she sorted through the masses of trampled upon sea homes of forgotten creatures. She didn't see broken-ness. She didn't see imperfections or jagged edges. She saw swirls of color, vivid brightness and a beautiful collection. She saw what "used to be" in each one of the shells she picked up and chose to drop in her bag. On the tram back from the beach, she chattered non-stop to a sweet older lady who had politely inquired about her findings. She was giddy with excitement each time she pulled a new treasure from her bag. She told the lady exactly why she had chosen that specific one--all of the wonderful qualities it possessed. It turned out that the lady thought one of the ones she chose was part of an old turtle shell. Now that was reason for excitement! It is a wonder to see the world through the eyes of a child.

It made me think about how God looks at us as his children. He doesn't look at us and see what we really are in the present. He doesn't see the broken, jagged edges of an empty shell. He doesn't see our imperfections and the fact that we're not whole. Instead of seeing what we "used to be" He sees what we someday "will be." He sees perfection. He sees the bright and beautiful creation that He made us to be. He sees a colorful collection of sons and daughters that will live forever with Him. He sees this because He sees Jesus in us. He sees clean hearts and holy lives because He sent the ultimate sacrifice to make us that way. Any beauty that shows in us to the onlooking world is given by Him. Any goodness, any purity, any righteousness--it's all Him. He chose to add us to His "collection." This wasn't based on any merit of our own but only His good will. We love Him because He first loved us. Only He knows the day that His collection will be complete and we will all go to live eternally with Him. And I personally think He gets very excited about it--just as Shepley did!