A sunny day at the beach. What a blessing for our anniversary! And our first hotel stay since last anniversary. So nice to get away, even briefly, during these days of Covid. Even though the wind whipped against us, it felt good to be out walking by the ocean. Hearing the waves break on the beach, seeing the gulls soaring across the sky, smelling the salty ocean air.
As always, I looked for sand dollars as we walked. But all the ones I saw were broken—not many would be more than a fifty-cent-piece, as we used to joke. Perfect sand dollars are hard to find. Isn’t that how it goes in life, as well? In marriage, child-rearing, life itself—most days are only half-perfect, a mixture of good and bad. And sometimes disaster strikes—this year in the form a pandemic that destroyed the whole idea of normal. Like a sand dollar smashed by a careless boot. Brokenness becomes the life we live.
The next morning dawned bright and still. As we strolled along the beach, I saw more broken shells. But then, wait, a whole one! I snapped a photo to remember it. A few more steps and there was another…and another. Suddenly it seemed like perfect sand dollars were everywhere. Like the broken world was coming whole again with each round shell. I took more pictures and left the sand dollars for others to find, imagining their excitement when they spotted the first complete one. And we walked on, enjoying this oh-so-perfect morning. Like a brief glimpse of heaven.
Sparrow Thoughts 
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