It is Worth Protecting

Kneeling in the sand, side by side, Mark and I used toy pails to pile up sand into a barrier made to guard the castle our family had built—it was a birthday castle for our little man who was celebrating turning two at the beach. The water didn’t lap quietly behind Mark and I, but waves broke near our knees and often crashed past us destroying the barrier and eroding our castle. As we laughed, Mark commented that our best efforts were proving to be unsuccessful. About a foot in front of us stood the castle—a large pile of sand with one or two castle formations added using our fancy buckets from Grandpa & Nana, and of course some sticks, feathers, and rocks for decoration.

As I looked at it, I nearly said, I’m really not sure this castle is worth protecting anyway, but I caught myself as I knew the girls had worked on it with us.  And then, as the words rolled around in my mouth and mind, I realized, it was worth protecting.  Not because it would win any sand sculpture contest; it really wasn’t even picture worthy, but it was worth protecting because we had created it together.

I won’t be instagraming a picture of our amazing castle with my three kids smiling behind it (partially because just getting them all to stand still on a beach is mission impossible), but with our five sets of hands, we built that castle.  It took us about fifteen minutes total—but, as gazed at the castle, waves crashing against my back, I knew these minutes were precious ones and our collaboration towards a shared goal makes the process itself something to be treasured even if the product is nothing to write home about.

Mommas, let us preoccupy ourselves with the process of being a family and worry less about what the product looks like to bystanders. Let us make messy memories with our hearts purposed towards loving Jesus and loving like Jesus the people He has placed in our care and our homes. Let us savor our crooked, feather-decorated sand castles knowing that the next one we attempt together will likely look a little better and our process may be a bit smoother, but it’s all worth protecting.

{I’m sorry you didn’t see posts from me last week; we were on a family vacation and my blog had some errors that even stopped my scheduled posts from posting; without wifi available, I was unable to remedy the problem. But, I am back!}

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