Sea Shells by the Seashore

This morning my niece Taylor and I got up early and spent some girl time finding sea shells together. It was a great time.

If you have ever looked for sea shells on the beach you know that it actually takes a lot of concentration. Especially when your 10 year old niece really wants to find a sand dollar. We found many pieces of sand dollars - but not a whole one - which was disappointing to her (don't worry folks, I took her to Starbucks afterwards and she got the iced lemon pound cake and she is all happy now. I am not, though, because I have still yet to receive endorsement money from Starbucks).

It got me thinking about how the waves come in and deposit some of the shells onto the beach while some of the sea shells gently roll back to where they came from, with no wear and tear to mention. The ones that stay on the beach get lumped into two categories. The ones that break and the ones that don't. The ones that break usually end up untouched, left to break even more until they are just part of the sand. The ones that remain intact end up being picked up by little girls and boys, bragged about to friends and displayed proudly on little bedroom shelves or in glass vases.

Kind of like us humans, aren't they. Some of us roll gently through life, barely untouched by the world. Living in a place that is comfortable and safe. Some of us are deposited onto unfamiliar shores, but our bodies or minds remain intact and we move on to different happy and fulfilled lives. Unfortunately, many of us are like the shells that are broken on the shore. Broken physically, mentally or emotionally. Living in a world that might not be comfortable and safe.

Sorry to sound a little down today. I am on vacation and not down at all - but I oftentimes feel so grateful for being safe and comfortable that I like to point out that others are not so that I can hopefully bring attention to the needs of this world. And as I have said many times before, if we know what the needs of others are we are more likely to be able to impact them positively.

What are the needs of those around you? Are you in need? Reach out, help someone or ask for help for yourself. There are many unbroken shells around just waiting to take you home.