I've been doing a lot of thinking and talking to the Lord lately, which has been wonderful. There truly is nothing like His presence and His voice speaking to me that makes me feel more alive, or brings more meaning to my life. He recently brought back to mind something that He showed me many years ago when I was at the ocean:
I had spent the day wandering up and down the beach collecting sea glass and sitting on the rocks for hours. I was feeling a bit frustrated with where my life was at, and where I felt the church was at. I was questioning Him about why it seemed like we did the same things over and over again without any real, apparent change. We attended services that were much the same each week, we sang the same songs over and over, prayed the same prayers, and listened to messages that ultimately all boiled down to the same thing.
I was questioning the effectiveness of it all, and as I sat there I heard Him say to me "Look around you." I looked around at the many small stones at the water's edge that had been worn into smooth, round eggs, as well as some of the larger rocks that rose up out of the sand. I even looked at the pastel shaded glass that was in my hand that resembled precious stones rather than a piece of glass. He said to me "How do you think these stones and this glass became this way? It was by the constant washing of the water over their edges day after day. The same tides coming in and going out every single day." I looked beyond the rocks on the beach to the jagged ones that lay by the road, just beyond the water's reach. He said "The jagged edges of your life are worn away by the washing of the word, by the washing of my presence, until one day you no longer resemble a broken piece of glass, but a beautiful, precious stone."
I've never forgotten those words and that illustration that He gave me that day. And it's something to think about when I get frustrated with the sameness of it all.
4 comments:
Thanks for a truly inspirational story. You should really see about getting this published.
What a beautiful story. It feels lovely to spend hours on the beach with the sand between your toes and the vast ocean and sky all around you. Definitely a wonderful time to connect and really listen.
Thanks so much for sharing. I'm glad I found your blog through Frances' blog. :)
Happy Monday!
xoxo,
Bonnie
Thank you so much for visiting my Little Birds blog and for leaving sweet words (and also for adding me to your list of blogs that you enjoy). Sometimes it's easy to wonder if anyone is looking at the things you share, so thank you for your encouragement. And thank you for this beautiful blog of yours. I love the title. And this post is so inspiring. I, too, have occasionally become discouraged by the "sameness" of it all in our fellowship services ... it's like you can predict who is going to say what, and when. I often feel very much like an oddball and out of touch with what is considered the traditional way of doing things. Anyway, your words about the stones and glass are inspiring, especially because they were given to you right from the Lord. I look forward to following your blog and reading your future postings. Besides my photo blog, I also have a blog where I share spiritual poems and quotes, etc. and sometimes some of my art work. If you are interested, the link is http://gentletouches.blogspot.com/.I pray you are having a beautiful day.
Hugs .... Frances
Good Morning, Kel .... I want to thank you again for visiting my photo blog. It's such an encouragement to read the words from you and your sister. I'm hoping to soon do a few reviews of some of the photo editing software I use on my pictures. It's amazing how many different things you can do to one photo, and it's often very difficult to decide which edit to post. So much fun to see final results, and the process itself is so much fun, too.
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