I remember walking the beach as a child, searching for beautiful treasures that washed in with the tide. In my young mind, every seashell was a beauty. Sometimes, if I was really lucky, I would find one that was nearly two inches in diameter! They were the biggest I ever found, and I considered them huge simply because I didn’t know any better.

I laugh at that childish viewpoint now. Having a friend with a house on a gated island has really expanded my vision (and spoiled me for good). Now I find sand dollars and sea urchins, stingrays and their less-intimidating relatives – the skate. I’ve stood on a bridge and watched dolphins dance in the harbor beneath me. I’ve witnessed tiny sea turtles scurrying toward the sea. All these things my childish mind could never conceive.

Those two-inch shells I found with wide eyes don’t even capture my attention anymore. I know there are more beautiful things in the sea.

I imagine God laughing at me now as I laugh at the memory of myself as a child. “Oh Rebekah,” He says, “if you only knew the things I have in store for you, maybe you wouldn’t be so distracted by such frivolous things.”

And just like that, I sense an awakening. There are more beautiful things in the sea. And as I watch the waves of my life rush in and out, in and out, I wait in expectation for the glorious things God has prepared for me.