I love walking the beach for the calm it invites in my life, for the perspective it gives me and for the beauty and treasure found in simple detail. And I especially preserve delight in uncovering the quiet splendor in a shard of beach glass.

What is it about a forsaken fragment of what it was meant to be to be… cast off, useless, inconvenient and neglected, that time and abrasion transform it into a highly prized gem? It’s the scuffs and scrapes that develop this jewel, its imperfections that provide its individuality and beauty.

Beach Glass: itsallgrace.org

As I walked the abandoned beach last week, amidst the pebbles and smooth rocks I spied my first slice of beach glass of the autumn season. Treasure! As I reached down to claim my jewel it suddenly suggested to me… my middle son, born with Down syndrome – Connor is my beach glass tre

My dream and expectations for what he might have been has changed. But who am I to determine in my dreams what he should have been, what he could have been? I live with who he is. Beauty on a beach of pebbles. Blending in, but standing out. Glowing in his uniquely frosted patina… sometimes tossed, sometimes tumbled by life, but strengthened by the process.

It’s his individuality that sparkles and shines in the sun.

I’m grateful for the treasure that resides in my son.

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The Lord your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth, his treasured possession. The Lord did not set his affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples.  But it was because the Lord loved you. Deuteronomy 7.6-8