Collecting Shells

This weekend I went on a solo-staycation (more to come on that later). I spent the day at a state park not too far from home. My family went on multiple camping trips there when I was young, so my mind was flooded with nostalgic memories when I arrived. The park seemed so much bigger and further away when I was little... funny how that works.

I took a long walk and eventually found a spot to sit and put my feet in the water. I noticed some small shells in the sand by my feet and another childhood memory came to mind. I remembered swimming in the lake as a child and finding several of these same kinds of small, clam-shaped shells. I spent that day seeing how many I could find, collect, and take home with me. To my young imaginative mind, it was like finding buried treasure. They were so important to me, I believe I may still have some in a memory box.

As an adult, I held that shell in my hand and the difference between then and now struck me. I almost hadn't noticed it. Even when I did, though I grinned to myself, I almost left it where it was laying in the sand. When did I become so boring? When did I lose my sense of child-like wonder?



But I reminded myself that things were much simpler then. I didn’t have the same worries I have today, for that matter, I’m not sure I had any real worries. “If only little Lindsey knew what was coming for her…” I thought. It was easier to be fascinated by shells in the sand when I wasn’t distracted by the burdens of everyday life.

Instead of throwing the shell back in the water, I decided not to succumb to the mundanities of my adult mind and embrace my inner child instead. I got up, bent down, and started collecting shells. Honestly, I felt pretty silly… not just because I was picking up shells of very little value, but because I wondered what all the kayakers and paddleboarders passing by on the lake were thinking about my fat a** being up in the air (I'm pretty sure that's not a thought I had as a child).


Okay pause… I kid you not, I got to this point in this post and had to stop writing for a bit because I had to leave for an appointment. On my way home from my appointment, the song “Wonder & Awe” by MercyMe came on the Spotify station I was listening to. This was the first time I had ever heard the song…

Take me back (oh)

To eyes open wide (oh)

To that kid who once believed (oh)

He was always made to fly (oh)

I want to be amazed (oh)

I want to drink it all in (oh)

I want to see my grown-up Faith feel like a child again

With wonder and awe (oh)

 

God really drove the point home through that song. It’s not just that I took a moment to emulate my childhood. It’s not just that I slowed down and noticed the shells. It’s that I allowed, forced myself even, to think like a child again. It didn’t come naturally to me. In fact, it took effort to get up to pick up more shells… I didn’t really want to. I was kind of comfortable where I was sitting… (now if THAT isn’t an adult thought if I’ve ever heard one). But I recognized the importance of doing something purposeless, to be silly, to experience child-like wonder.

 

Seeing the world through the eyes of a child ignores the worries of life and focuses on shells in the sand instead.

 

Yes, things were a lot simpler then… but I can still focus on the shells. As a child, I wasn’t worried about what time we needed to leave to get to bed, how we were going to put gas in the car, pay for groceries, etc. I trusted my parents to take care of all of that and more. I was just focused on the shells. 

Just as a child can trust their parents to care for them and provide for their every need, I can trust God to take care of me… I can just focus on the shells.

I didn’t collect nearly as many shells as I did that day as a child, but I was proud of my little collection. I put them in a water bottle and brought them home with me. I plan on looking through my memory box to see if I can find those shells from all those years ago so I can add these to the collection. I plan on setting them somewhere they will remind me to focus on the shells, to keep my child-like wonder and faith.

Friend, whoever you are, wherever you, whatever is on your heart today… Life will never be simple, but I hope you never stop collecting shells.

 


“And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them and said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 18:2-4 ESV

 

Wonder & Awe, Song by MercyMe, 2025 https://share.google/n0dHSDwX7UYtKEU79

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