The shells washing ashore provide examples of the many ways we can survive the storms of life and arrive safely at our destination.

We can arrive connected.  Together.  With the help of a friend.

Carry each other’s burdens and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.
-Galatians 6:2

We can be carried or hidden.  Sometimes we are absolutely without strength for the journey.  We need to be protected.  We need to be hidden under His wings.

The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation.  He is my stronghold, my refuge and my savior.  -II Samuel 22:2-3

We arrive young and we arrive old.  One thing is for sure.  There are no guarantees on the number of our days.  It’s amazing to me that God created the sea to protect both the tiniest and the hardiest shells.  He does the same for human kind.

Your eyes saw my unformed body.  All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.  -Psalm 139:16

We can arrived battered and broken.  The battering can be self imposed or inflicted on us by another.  The good news is….we can still arrive.

The suffering won’t last forever. It won’t be long before this generous God who has great plans for us in Christ—eternal and glorious plans they are!—will have you put together and on your feet for good.  -I Peter 5:10

There is no discrimination.  My dad used to say “the ground is level around the cross.”  It is.  The One who created us will welcome us home without regard to our color or size.

In Christ’s family there can be no division into Jew and non-Jew, slave and free, male and female.  Among us you are all equal.  -Galations 3:28

And when we get there we, who have made Him our Way, will each be His prize possession.  We will know Him and be known by Him for He was there in the shaping of us all along.

And God saw what He had made and it was good.  -Genesis 1:31
Well done good and faithful servant.  -Matthew 25:23