Made for Me

Mollusks and seaweed are two things that I have never truly developed a taste for.  Don't get me wrong, I have eaten my fair shair of each.  Mollusks have wonderful flavor and add a beautiful depth to soups, stews, sauces, etc, but I'm not too fond of the texture.  As far as seaweed goes, it's the taste that puts me off.  I know how healthy it is, so I continue to eat seaweed when it is offered.  I just remember that scent being blown into my nostrils from hot summer days on the Gulf Coast.  I guess I associate the flavor with the way my nose turned up at the smell of a such days.  In any case, I eat both of them...I just don't like them.

Yesterday, my daughter and I went for a walk along the beach.  The weather was perfect, in the low 70's.  The sun was shining, and the beach was clean.  The only smell that came to our noses was that of the warm sea breeze.  We walked a good long way, and turned around to come back.  Along the way, we came across a bag and took that as the perfect opportunity to scavenge for seashells.  Maggie loves to collect shells and reaches her hand out for every little fragment that has an element of beauty.  The shell itself does not need to be intact....just the beauty.  I agree with her.  Some shells are more interesting because of the way they have broken - especially whelks.  They break open revealing intricate twists and turns.  Their beauty lies not in their perfection - because the exterior is usually a gray or dull beige - but in their brokenness.

As we walked along, I heard myself say, "Keep your eyes open!  You never know when something amazing will present itself!"  She reached down to pick up another fan-shaped shell - she already had about 50 of them - and I said, "Why don't you just let God enjoy that one?"  My thought was that she would leave it there.  She smiled up at me and said, "He made it for me."  How many times have I told her that?  I truly, sincerely believe that my Creator made certain things just for me.  When I'm driving in my car and see a spectacular sunset that takes my breath away, I thank Him.  He didn't have to make it pretty, but He did.  He knew I'd be looking.  When I bend over to smell a heavily scented flower, I thank Him.  He didn't need to make the smell so enticing to me, but He did.  And when I walk along the beach and reach my hand down to scoop up some little gem of my own finding, I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that my Lord made that shell just for me and placed it in my path.  In His all-encompassing knowledge, He knew that I would reach down and hide the shell away in my pocket...that I would wander back to the house and put it in a jar...that I would look at that jar over and over and smile.  Sure, a little mollusk of some sort enjoyed my shell for a while, but it was mine all along.  God knew.  

Our Father loves us.  He made everything with us in mind.  As a homeschool mom, sometimes I give the kids little "projects"...I might say, "Take the beans in this little bag and then look up the various colors of beans.  Use only those colors to paint a picture, and incorporate some of these beans."  That's a lot of "busywork," but it keeps them happy for a moment. As smart as we think we are, I have a feeling that scientists are just doing a lot of "busywork."  God knows everything.  It doesn't need to be figured out.  He made it all, and He did so with a perfect plan.  That perfect plan often involves us and the joy that benefits us in our days.

We often get so bogged down just trying to meet our own needs.  We spend countless hours worried over how our ends will meet or how we can accomplish this or that.  Matthew 6:8 tells us, "Your Father knows what you need before you ask Him."   Sure, we have to put our own hands to the plow and work, but God will not leave us abandoned, fending for ourselves.  He will see to it that our labor is not in vain if we are submitted to His will.  In addition, He will provide beautiful things for us along the way.  It is His great pleasure to do so.  He loves us more than we can imagine.

I may not like to eat mollusks, but I sure do like to collect their shells.  The birds can eat them.  The fish can eat them.  I don't mind as long as the sea coughs up their little shells once they're empty!  Maggie and I will find them.  After all, they are ours.