Seashells....

Seashells.........have you ever really looked at one and studied how intricate it is???  Recently, I had the privilege of being on the beach in Rotondo, Florida with some friends who moved there from Kansas........it was such an incredible weekend of RRRRelaxation, rejuvenation and fun!  I came home feeling refreshed and ready to contemplate life in a new way!

Amie and I collected seashells at two different beaches:  Venice Beach and Boca Grande Beach - it was absolutely exquisite!!!  As I looked at each shell I collected to bring home to Kansas, I saw the incredible intricate detail of each shell.  Perfectly formed.......perfectly designed.....with perfect lines spaced perfectly apart and perfectly beautiful!  Wow.........I am in awe of God's creation!!!

One shell had tiger stripes, one was completely white, one was white with black stripes on part of it, one was mauve, one was pale yellow on the tip, and others had the tiniest hole on one end that was so perfectly drilled as if a drill bit was used.  How do these creatures do it?  How do they manage to carve out that hole so perfectly so that they can get out of the shell?  How long does that take?  I'm not sure, but it is amazing to contemplate!!!

As I look at these shells, I have to ask:  How did God design so many different kinds of shells?  Why did he design so many?  My mind is going in a million directions of how and why these exquisitely beautiful shells land on the sand, washed up from the ocean floor, day after day after day............and what are they really???

A seashell is a marine mollusk.  I never knew the official name of a seashell before!  A mollusk is a invertebrate which typically has a calcareous shell of one, two or more pieces that wholly or partly enclose the soft, unsegmented body, including the chitons, snails, bivalves, squids and/or octopuses.
So fascinating!!! 

How many varieties are there?  Hundreds, thousands, billions???  I'm not sure, but there are a LOT!!!  Imagine......just like the stars..........millions or billions of seashells.......teeming from the ocean floor and landing on the beach for unsuspecting humans (like me!) to pick up, and ponder each shape, each line, each mark, each dot of beauty and take them home!!!

We have one awesome God who chose to create these living creatures and shells for us to marvel at and contemplate the various species of marine mollusks!  It is even written in the Bible as to how he created these fascinating creatures.....
Genesis 1:20-21 says:  "And, God said, "Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky. So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living and moving thing with which the water teems, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind.  And, God saw that it was good."

Just think about it!!!  Seashells are good.  Pelicans are good. Whales are good. Seagulls are good. Dolphins are good.  Yes, even Octopus and Jelly fish are good.  (Just not good to get stung by!)  They are good because the God of the Universe, The Creator, and One, the Most High God decided to bless us with an incredible world filled with all sorts of creatures, trees, flowers, insects, animals, brooks, ponds, rivers and oceans FULL of all of His glory!!!

If that's not an incredible imagination on display, I don't know what is............