This happened a long time ago.... There was a time I was deeply hurt by someone. My 'friends' from college decided, around that time, that it would be fun to go to the beach and decided that it would be a 'girls' only' time (well...I'm gonna call them that for now, because I dunno what you call people you've known for over a month and they are your classmates but its not like you've bonded well with them.....especially when there are two people in that gang who don't like you and you don't know about it, but you're going to find out soon).
So well I thought anyway it would be a good thing and it will help me take my mind off things for a while. I'm standing there at the beach watching the girls laugh and talk and run about and yea it really wasn't a bad idea...I was feeling lighter already. And then we remove our sandals and fold up our jeans to get into the water... I was really enjoying it..... Then one of them came up to me and showed me something...
As the water from the sea hits the shore and retreats back, you see tiny holes in the sand. Apparently when the waves come, it brings along with it tiny clams and as the water retreats these clams are busy digging into the sand. Thats why you see tiny holes and if you grab a handful of sand surrounding that hole, you can catch of hold of that tiny clam.
I dint believe her at first. But she did exactly that and held out her hand, palm facing upwards, filled with wet sand from the shore. And true enough after a few minutes I see something wriggling (like a really tiny white worm) on the top center portion of the sand and a few seconds later, a tiny clam shell emerges from the sand with the wriggly worm still wriggling....this time to get back into the sand that is managed to dig itself out of! Maybe it sensed that it was exposed??
Well I was soo fascinated that I spent the next few minutes trying to catch these clams. She left by then and I was alone.... some of the lines from these verses came to my mind:
"Do not worry about your life..", "Consider the birds, for they neither sow nor reap; they have no store room nor barn, and yet God feeds them; how much more valuable you are than the birds!", "Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; but I tell you, not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these." **
Yes its true! Look at the way God ensured He took care of those tiny little oysters....I repeat ....tiny little clams!! Would we care?? He fashioned their mechanism so that they could dig through sand to hide themselves and in the process over a long time make a pearl out of the very sand that causes it so much irritation. I looked up at the sky and saw the sun, the sky, the water, the beach, the wind...wow all of God's creation is really beautiful!! And I thought to myself, " Yes Lord, if You can take care of such tiny clams how much more will You be taking care of me and I know you love me very much."
All this while my 'friends'.... well.... they were around doing something...I don't know what, but I just had the most amazing moment with my old man with a white beard and I got back to looking for more tiny clams. And guess wot I got a colorful pink one this time!!! "Wow!!" I thought to myself and ran over to the girl, who told me about this, to show it to her. By then everyone came to see what was happening and when they saw that, they too tried to do the same and catch hold of the clams as the waves retreated. But none of them got a colored one. In the meantime I got a blue one!! So they came to me saying, "Sheens, even I want one!!" Now those two gals who din't like me and I din't know abt it? Well those two came up as well.. I picked up another clam and I got a green one this time... and a yellow one and an orange one!! (Yea I was just as surprised as you are reading this!)
I think God was being really sweet then, like sending you little surprises like these, working up magic for you right in front of your eyes. Because no one from that group of 'friends' found any colored clam except for white ones.... I was sooo happy and fascinated I kept those coloured clams for myself (selfish of me!! ) so I could look back and know this wasn't a dream or some fantasy I cooked up. That's probably one of the reasons why those girls din't like me anymore after that. Because the next day they were in college telling every one, "Sheens was talking to herself on the beach, she looked like she went mad, like a lost lonely poor soul" and were laughing about it..
OUCH! That hurt....but here's the thing, they never experienced what I did on that beach. I felt Him! I felt His love for me! So who cares what they tell about me.. I know what happened that day at the beach and I'm happy. Looking back, I'd like to think of these people as the sand in your lives trying to stop you from going where you want to go. And you struggle a lot to push them away. But here's the thing some people are in your lives for a reason, they help you learn something valuable like a virtue, patience or forgiveness maybe and then leave.....Others become part of your life and something you treasure - your family & true friends - they may annoy you,hurt you, irritate you sometimes but they're the ones who truly love you and you never want to lose them so you forgive and forget those little irritations and convert that into a treasure, which is the pearl.... :)
** Below is the passage from the Bible that are the verses from where I thought of the lines.
So well I thought anyway it would be a good thing and it will help me take my mind off things for a while. I'm standing there at the beach watching the girls laugh and talk and run about and yea it really wasn't a bad idea...I was feeling lighter already. And then we remove our sandals and fold up our jeans to get into the water... I was really enjoying it..... Then one of them came up to me and showed me something...
As the water from the sea hits the shore and retreats back, you see tiny holes in the sand. Apparently when the waves come, it brings along with it tiny clams and as the water retreats these clams are busy digging into the sand. Thats why you see tiny holes and if you grab a handful of sand surrounding that hole, you can catch of hold of that tiny clam.
I dint believe her at first. But she did exactly that and held out her hand, palm facing upwards, filled with wet sand from the shore. And true enough after a few minutes I see something wriggling (like a really tiny white worm) on the top center portion of the sand and a few seconds later, a tiny clam shell emerges from the sand with the wriggly worm still wriggling....this time to get back into the sand that is managed to dig itself out of! Maybe it sensed that it was exposed??
Well I was soo fascinated that I spent the next few minutes trying to catch these clams. She left by then and I was alone.... some of the lines from these verses came to my mind:
"Do not worry about your life..", "Consider the birds, for they neither sow nor reap; they have no store room nor barn, and yet God feeds them; how much more valuable you are than the birds!", "Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; but I tell you, not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these." **
"Not even a sparrow, worth only half a penny, can fall to the ground without your Father knowing it. And the very hairs on your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are more valuable to Him than a whole flock of sparrows." (Mathew 10: 29-31)
Yes its true! Look at the way God ensured He took care of those tiny little oysters....I repeat ....tiny little clams!! Would we care?? He fashioned their mechanism so that they could dig through sand to hide themselves and in the process over a long time make a pearl out of the very sand that causes it so much irritation. I looked up at the sky and saw the sun, the sky, the water, the beach, the wind...wow all of God's creation is really beautiful!! And I thought to myself, " Yes Lord, if You can take care of such tiny clams how much more will You be taking care of me and I know you love me very much."
All this while my 'friends'.... well.... they were around doing something...I don't know what, but I just had the most amazing moment with my old man with a white beard and I got back to looking for more tiny clams. And guess wot I got a colorful pink one this time!!! "Wow!!" I thought to myself and ran over to the girl, who told me about this, to show it to her. By then everyone came to see what was happening and when they saw that, they too tried to do the same and catch hold of the clams as the waves retreated. But none of them got a colored one. In the meantime I got a blue one!! So they came to me saying, "Sheens, even I want one!!" Now those two gals who din't like me and I din't know abt it? Well those two came up as well.. I picked up another clam and I got a green one this time... and a yellow one and an orange one!! (Yea I was just as surprised as you are reading this!)
I think God was being really sweet then, like sending you little surprises like these, working up magic for you right in front of your eyes. Because no one from that group of 'friends' found any colored clam except for white ones.... I was sooo happy and fascinated I kept those coloured clams for myself (selfish of me!! ) so I could look back and know this wasn't a dream or some fantasy I cooked up. That's probably one of the reasons why those girls din't like me anymore after that. Because the next day they were in college telling every one, "Sheens was talking to herself on the beach, she looked like she went mad, like a lost lonely poor soul" and were laughing about it..
OUCH! That hurt....but here's the thing, they never experienced what I did on that beach. I felt Him! I felt His love for me! So who cares what they tell about me.. I know what happened that day at the beach and I'm happy. Looking back, I'd like to think of these people as the sand in your lives trying to stop you from going where you want to go. And you struggle a lot to push them away. But here's the thing some people are in your lives for a reason, they help you learn something valuable like a virtue, patience or forgiveness maybe and then leave.....Others become part of your life and something you treasure - your family & true friends - they may annoy you,hurt you, irritate you sometimes but they're the ones who truly love you and you never want to lose them so you forgive and forget those little irritations and convert that into a treasure, which is the pearl.... :)
** Below is the passage from the Bible that are the verses from where I thought of the lines.
"And He said to His disciples, "For this reason I say to you, do not worry about your life, as to what you will eat; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing? Consider the birds, for they neither sow nor reap; they have no store room nor barn, and yet God feeds them; how much more valuable you are than the birds! And which of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life's span? If then you cannot do even a very little thing, why do you worry about other matters? Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; but I tell you, not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass in the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, how much more will He clothe you? You men of little faith! And do not seek what you will eat and what you will drink, and do not keep worrying." (Luke 12:22-29)
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