My Own Gift from the Sea
This week I gathered my weary body and soul and joined with the two friends that have known and loved me my entire life (that would be my sisters) for a few days at the seaside.
Honey, there is nothing quite like ocean waves, shells on the shore, and sand between your toes to restore a soul.
Early mornings looking out at the vast expanse of emptiness (not really empty) brings me Calm, Serenity and a sense of God’s Presence unlike any other place.
What I take away from such focused and rare experiences is truly a GIFT.
Not long after I was born, Mama turned to one of her favorite authors – Anne Morrow Lindbergh – for some inspiration on life through a brand new book “Gift from the Sea.” I am so grateful she gave me a copy when I was a young girl. No surprise that this book is now a classic (and so am I)! If you haven’t yet read it, do yourself a favor and go buy a copy. Right now.
This busy mother of five kids in mid-century America, married to the world’s most famous aviator (Charles Lindbergh, you may have heard of him), echoed many of my own thoughts as summer begins: “My life in Connecticut, I begin to realize, lacks this quality of significance and therefore of beauty, because there is so little empty space. The space is scribbled on; the time has been filled. There are so few empty pages in my engagement pad, or empty hours in the day, or empty rooms in my life in which to stand alone and find myself. Too many activities, and people, and things. Too many worthy activities, valuable things, and interesting people. For it is not merely the trivial which clutters our lives but the important as well.” (*Anne Morrow Lindbergh, “Gift from the Sea”)
I know your life is cluttered with Important Things, not just superfluous stuff. Mine too. But it is so crucial to take time periodically to pull away from all that, to unplug, and just sit beside the ocean waves and drink in the Silence of God’s goodness and restoration.
“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to Me. Get away with Me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with Me and work with Me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with Me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.” - Jesus in Matthew 11.28-30 MSG
As I wandered along the shore and gathered shells, each one seemed to have a name – someone for whom I am praying. A few were perfectly white and symmetrically shaped, obviously young and new. Others were chipped and weathered, witness to many storms already but nonetheless full of beauty. I placed them in a small pile at my feet as I read my prayer book and witnessed the rising Sun. God knows them all – us all – even though what I have gathered here, both in my hands and all the people in my life, are just a fraction of His Beloved.
Though I am not wholly alone during this beach visit, I can identify with Lindbergh who chronicled the benefits of her sojourn by the Sea “There are not too many activities or things or people, and each one, I find, is significant, set apart in the frame of sufficient time and space. Here there is time; time to be quiet; time to work without pressure; time to think; time to watch the heron, watching with frozen patience for his prey. Time to look at the stars or to study a shell; time to see friends, to gossip, to laugh, to talk. Time even, not to talk.” (*AML)
On your next shore visit, I hope you, too, will take some time “not to talk” or text or listen to anything other than the still small Voice of the God who loves you more than you can even imagine. After all, He created all this beauty just for us!
Is it at all surprising that one of God’s greatest gifts from the sea is Grace? And perspective too.
“Perhaps this is the most important thing for me to take back from beach-living: simply the memory that each cycle of the tide is valid; each cycle of the wave is valid; each cycle of a relationship is valid.” (*AML)
“Each cycle of a relationship is valid.” All those memories conjured up from my journey here in South Georgia with family and old friends. In my third trimester of life, these truths are both hard and hope-filled. They remind me of something Amy Carmichael once wrote - “All weathers nourish souls.”
Why not pick up a shell and write on it your own gift from the sea? Place it on your desk or kitchen window sill or home altar so you can always remember those whispers from that still small Voice.
May the grace of Christ, the love of God, and the friendship of the Holy Spirit bring you comfort and strength, Lucinda
“Helping You Choose a Life of Serenity and Strength”
©2021 Lucinda Secrest McDowell www.LucindaSecrestMcDowell.com
Lucinda Secrest McDowell is a storyteller and seasoned mentor who engages both heart and mind while “Helping You Choose a Life of Serenity & Strength.” She has authored 15 books including “Soul Strong – 7 Keys to a Vibrant Life” and “Life-Giving Choices – 60 Days to What Matters Most.” She writes from “Sunnyside” cottage in New England and shares encouraging words at LucindaSecrestMcDowell.com
When you go to our place in Florida, you’ll find a copy of that very book! 🙂
>
I am so glad you’ve had this time at the shore with your sisters. The words from AML are so apt. For me, looking at or walking in the mountains restores my soul. As I am rapidly losing everyone in the generation before me I’ve known my entire life, I’ve realized I need to more jealously guard my time to care for those coming after. Thank you for this beautiful reflection this morning.
A Gift from the Sea has been one of my favorites since I was a teen as well. How beautifully you write about your own gift from the sea. I too find the beach the place where God ministers to my soul. I have walked countless miles on sand and added the saltwater of countless tears to the ocean.
There is nothing like spending time by the ocean….beautiful times of refreshing.
I am so thrilled for yall and blessed just knowing you 3 are together with brief alone time too in such a beautiful place of serenity! This is a wonderful newsletter for the week, so perfect, relevant, and true. Enjoy every bit of togetherness, my heart is beyond happy for my mom to be with both of her sisters because I know what that means to ME when I’m with mine, not to mention how happy I am for Grandmama to have all 3 of you soon because I know also what that means to my mom…and us as sisters (our mother/daughter time is next and is long overdue!) Enjoy this special blessing of a week and your 2 best friends while you can, love you all! Thanks for another good Wednesday read!
The beauty of the ocean always brings me closer to God. Thank you for sharing.
Beautiful remembrances and the important encouragement to rest in God. Jesus told us to give us His burdens and enter His rest because He knew how important this is to our lives.
Lou and I just returned from a week on Sanibel aand Captiva Islands where AML wrote her marvelous book. We brought back many beautiful shells. Each one reminds me of Gods perfect and beautiful handiwork. All of the many shell seekers on those beaches were searching for the perfect shells. Like me however ,those shells have imperfections , none are perfect. The perfect shell or human doesn’t exist, but we are made perfect by Gods redeeming love!
I live by the sea here in Scotland. My late husband was a fisherman and knew the awesome power of it. It’s only a reflection of the many gifts our God gives us — Today? His faithfulness; new every morning
The ocean/beach is my happy place. It is where I feel closest to God in nature. It brings me calm and peace to just sit and watch the waves roll in and out.