10 Random Things I Thought About While Playing In The Sand

What a vacation at the beach!  I couldn't help but see God in everything while I was there.  Here are 10 random things about God that I thought about while playing in the sand (and no I'm not going to talk about any footprints).

1.  Building your life on material things is like building with sand - when the tide rolls in (and it always does) it will wipe you out.  Build on the Rock! Matthew 7:24-27
2.  God made me out of this stuff.  Wow!  What a Creator!  Genesis 2:7
3.  I made an octopus out of sand.  I worked hard on it.  Here is what I learned (besides that I can count to 8):  I worry too much about the end result sometimes.  I am way too focused on the product and not the process.  I was working so hard on making a octopus that I didn't take time to enjoy the process of doing it. 
4.  Dry sand won't stick.  It needs to be wet so it can be shaped.  I must be washed by the water of the Word or I'll be dry and unshapeable by the Lord.
5.  Everyone on the beach had a bucket and a shovel.  They all made the same things - castles.  I made an octopus.  I must not follow the crowd and do the norm.  I have to branch out, be creative, and use my giftings for Him.  Who likes mundane and uniformity anyway?
6.  The sand and buckets were only means to an end - time well spent with my kids!
7.  I buried Kylee in the sand.  When she got out, she was filthy with sand.  She was trying so hard to brush the sand off with her hands.  I said, "just get in the water and you'll come out clean."  Wow - when we try to get rid of the dirt and sin by ourselves, it is as useless as trying to get every grain of sand off our bodies.  When we immerse ourselves in God's forgiveness, He washes us clean!!!
8.  The Lord promised Abraham that He would make his descendants as the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore.  God will bless us beyond our ability to count, interpret, or fathom.
9.  God's thoughts toward me outnumber the grains of sand in the world.  How could I ever count them?  O how He loves me.  Psalm 139:17-18
10.  Digging into the wet sand with my hands was an awesome sensation.  The more I dug, the more I found and created.  I also had more and more fun.  Soon I got tired, but the benefits (fun, experience, time with family, etc.) outweighed the work and I was right back at it.  Digging into God's Word is a lot like this:  rich and rewarding.