Washing Oysters

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It is surreal the way that some things can touch you. In this case, for me, it was in washing oysters. I sat on a pier Thursday night removing sea squirts, barnacles, crabs, and muck from their tiny shells. In some weird way, it felt like the greatest honor to be able to care for something so small. There was an unexplainable amount of love and peace felt with everything I touched.

I can’t say that oysters have ever been any part of my routine either. So, they weren’t ever anything that I would notice, much less give too much thought about or sentiment. (Until maybe in recent months when I feel like God uses them to talk to me about so many things, spiritually, in metaphor. So, now they mean something to me and I’m kind of crazy about ‘most things’ oyster or pearl. I adore them.) 

Then my daughter and I joined the Chesapeake Bay Foundation over the summer in their #savethebay project. We are now oyster gardeners.

As I sat on that pier, I couldn’t get over how beautiful they were. I must have dozens of pictures in my phone and I think I could have sat there with them, all night. 

Imagine if we all felt like that about all little things... no matter how mundane, dirty, or small. Of course, I pray this is one of those things that sticks, for me, in ALL aspects of my life. Even when I’m doing something for the thousandth time. I want to hold that moment and remember-- there is honor in it, and privilege in taking care of things.

Days later, I am still meditating on that experience. And as I do so, I am reminded of several verses like:

- Isaiah 40:11 that says “He gathers us in his arms, and holds us close to heart.”  

- Psalm 139:9-10 “God holds us in his right hand”. 

- John 10:28 “no one can snatch us from his hand”

-And then 1 John 1:9 that talks about the way “he cleanses us”

And now, I can’t help but see that strange and wonderful love rush must’ve been the way God looks at each of us.

Not all of the things I removed from the oysters were bad either. However, they were harmful for the oyster in some way. If they didn’t kill them immediately, they could gradually accumulate in the cage and suffocate or drain them. Some had to be pulled off, others scraped. Much of it was messy. But never once, did I see something I didn’t want to touch. I wanted to restore ‘my babies’. And free what was precious to me.

I don’t know how many oysters I touched. Each one unique, and I admired all of the shapes, and hues, and the ways that they were each so different and growing at various paces. I wanted to see every one of them, and each of their details, and help them have their best chance at health, success, and life. I understood their purpose and how important they were —their cause, to me.

Friend, I don’t know what you think about, or find passion in, but so many times we can see ‘our time with God’ as a separate event or task from the things that we’re already doing. Zephaniah 3:17 tells us that God is in our midst. He is always available for communication.

I don’t know how you view God, or think that he looks at you. There may be things that you are ashamed of, and things that you wrestle with, and can’t bear to look at. But you’ve got a Father that sees WHAT HE LOVES IN YOU, more than he sees anything ‘dirty’ or ‘too messy’, to fool with anywhere else you are concerned.

The rest of that verse in 1 John 1:9 says “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 

There is a ‘togetherness’ in our cleansing. Don't underestimate what happens when you spend time with the Lord. No matter how or where you spend it. And whatever you've got on you, just lay it all bare before him. He already sees it. His son died to get a hold of it. Let God cleanse you, and show you how much he loves you for who you already are.