I love the inside jokes, rich stories, and recurring themes that are shared in a long-standing and intimate relationship. Those relationships are a safe harbor where the need to protect oneself fall away and being together is a natural joy and assurance. Such a relationship is possible with God and I wouldn’t be able to breathe without having that with Him. He knows me so completely and absolutely loves every molecule of me. He anticipates what I need before it ever even occurs to me.

I’m at the beach this week and I have walked so much with my Father that I have blister pads all over my feet. For many years now I have felt drawn to the ocean to take long walks with Him and wait for lessons that He wants to teach me. I also love to beach-comb along the way and I always ask Him to lead me to surprises on the beach. One of our recurring themes is for me to ask Him for at least one perfect whelk shell to take home. He tends to respond in the same way and yesterday was no exception as I came across the whelk pictured above. It was in the calm water of an inlet I was exploring at low tide. As soon as I saw it I started laughing out loud before I ever picked it up because I knew without any hesitation that He had placed it there for me and waited for me to arrive. I could see the big grins on Pap’s and Jesus’ faces. After a couple minutes of great laughter and joy I picked up the shell and declared out loud: I hear you Pap!

You may not see the same humor here that I do but you have to understand that finding this kind of shell in this condidtion is not a new thing for me. It has happened before and the lesson is the same. The lesson of the broken whelk is the truth of the life in Christ. If we seek perfection or that we are only valuable to Him when we can present a polished life then we will only be shining a light on ourselves and our abilities. People will look at us and see us. We will be a beautiful shell sitting on the sand, afraid to enter into the deep waters because we might get damaged. The whelk God gave me yesterday is the life He has called us to. A life that wades into the water and allows itself to be tossed to and fro. A life that is broken wide open so that His light and glory can shine forth from the broken places.

I want that life. I want Him to be seen. I want Him to be glorified. So yes, I laughed heartily at our inside joke when I found that shell but I also once again got the message: risk giving yourself away so that God can shine His light to all around you.