Finding More Sea Glass

Last year, after returning from our family beach week, I wrote about sea glass (click here to view that post). This year’s beach week has produced yet another post about this stuff! While on vacation my wife and I scanned the shore for more sea glass. Once again, God used this experience to open my eyes to a few things about myself and those around me.

Sea glass has a story to tell.

All sea glass has a story behind it. Whether it be from tragedy, irresponsible behavior of someone else, or simply being rejected and thrown away, each piece of sea glass has been through some sort of brokenness. For those of us who pick up a piece on the beach, there is a mystery behind what brought it to that point. Though the details are unknown to us, we can know the story always includes being broken.

Sea glass is beautiful and unique.

Despite the history behind it, the sharp edges of a piece of sea glass have been smoothed out over time so that the brokenness becomes something beautiful to look at. Not only that, due to the different journeys that each one has taken, there are no two alike. Comparing them to see which one is more beautiful makes no sense, really. They all are beautiful in their own unique ways because the process of being broken was unique in and of itself. No two stories are exactly alike.

Sea glass is often hidden, overlooked, or unappreciated.

For every piece found there are several others hidden amongst the vast number of shells, sand, rocks, and other items on the beach. Sometimes our perspective keeps us from seeing them, like when we wear sunglasses that filter out the sunlight reflecting beautifully off of a piece laying right in front of us. And then there are those of us who do not appreciate the hunt for these little treasures. Our focus is on something else, so we fail to see the beauty in it and overlook it altogether.

We all have our own stories. We’ve all been broken by hurt, rejection, or some form of loss. Some of us are currently working through brokenness. Others are enjoying some peace on the other side of it. Sometimes we will be overlooked, sometimes we will fail to see our own value, and sometimes we will get overwhelmed and distracted by so many things that we cannot see anything redeemable in ourselves or anyone else for that matter. Regardless of what chapter of life we are in, it’s vitally important to remember what God does with difficult background stories. Like sea glass, He takes our brokenness and turns it into something beautiful. When He looks at each of His children, He sees something beautiful and unique, regardless of where we are in the process of brokenness and healing. Every beautifully unique person has a story to tell that’s filled with struggle. Either we already have a story like that to tell, or we are living one that we will be able to share one day.