What If?

Often we stumble upon something that is so unexpectedly amazing we have to ask ourselves, “Is this real?” It might be a person or an experience, or in my case, a thing that causes us to pause and question our first impressions.

The winds have been crazy and the beach has been cluttered with mounds of foul smelling vegetation and the little biting bugs that come with it, so I haven’t been walking every day. I woke early on Tuesday and walked to the balcony— my morning ritual. A front moved in the night before, bringing calmer seas and cooler breeze so I headed down before sunrise 

As I was walking along the beach, lost in thought and prayer, I noticed a bright white object nestled in a pile of seaweed. I paused my chat, as I often do (I am sorry God) and walked toward what I assumed would be trash. As I got closer, I could see that it was in fact a shell and I bent to brush the sand before I picked it up. 

It was perfect—complete and unbroken. Two perfect sides of snow white waves with a dark brown ridge between the sides. It barely weighed enough to feel in my hand and it was brittle like plastic. Imagine my joy turned to disappointment… it must be a toy.

I started toss it in my bag so I could throw it away when I got home, and a little voice inside my head said “what if” so I wrapped in the sleeve of my jacket and tucked it into my sandal for safe keeping. 

When I arrived home I shared the photo with Google images… and discovered that still soft voice had served me well. I had discovered a nautilus, the paper-like egg case of a pelagic octopus. I had proof—google proof, but again I wondered can this be real? Something this perfect… this beautiful… this complete is surely too good to be true.

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What if we lived in a world that was still surprised when good things happened?

What if we saw the perfectly beautiful parts of ourselves? 

What if we looked at ourselves the way God sees us?

What if we marveled at our own beauty, our own worth, our own intricate design—just as effortlessly as we admire the wonders of nature?

What if we stopped dismissing the good we find in ourselves, assuming it must be a mistake, a fluke, or not quite real?

What if, instead of seeing our flaws first, we saw the masterpiece God created?

Perhaps the real challenge isn’t finding beauty in the world—it’s believing that same beauty exists within us.

Maybe it’s time to see ourselves as He does: perfect and wonderfully made.