Old shell…

The old shell…

We were trolling one of the beaches on Sanibel Island, when my friend came upon this shell, offered to give it to me…my mind said, “no”, but my heart said yes…

Covered with old barnacles, aged…a lesson was speaking to me…

I tend to get a bit grouchy/complainy when tired…so my attitude was a bit off from flying, lack of sleep, high heat…even in this beautiful place…

I looked at this shell…saw the barnacles, the roughness, the age…oh, that’s me…I need to throw off the barnacles which had encrusted my attitude, stop the “tude” and move on with life…see the beauty around me…I had to chuckle that such simple things can teach so much…

“bar·​na·​cle 

: a small saltwater crustacean that becomes permanently attached (as to rocks or the bottoms of boats) as an adult”

Merriam Webster 

Seeing the barnacles attached so solidly to the shell, reminded me that grumpiness, bad attitudes, complaining can become permanently attached to anyone…

If I say, ‘I will forget my complaint, I will put off my sad face, and be of good cheer,’

Job 9:27

But I call to God, and the Lord will save me. Evening and morning and at noon I utter my complaint and moan, and he hears my voice.

Psalm 55:16-17

Do all things without grumbling or disputing, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain.

Philippians 2:14-16 

I don’t want to be an old shell, filled with complaints and grumbling…I want to encrusted with the fruit of the spirit shining through…. 

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

Galatians 5:22-24

Thank YOU for the shell….