erin brought be back some of the ocean from when she was in mexico. she handed me a bag of sand, a bundle of shells, and a bottle of ocean water. i love the ocean and miss it terribly, which is why she brought those things back for me. i put them in a jar, so i can have my own little ocean to look at and appreciate.
the thing is, as wonderful as my ocean in a bottle is, it isn't even comparable to the actually ocean. you can't capture the depth, the vastness, the beauty, the power, the life of the ocean in a little glass jar. my shells are beautiful, but there are so many more out there! and the little bit of sand i have is great, but it isn't the same as the beach. you can't walk along it, build castles with it, and truly enjoy it in the same way.
do you ever think that maybe we have God in a bottle? we cannot contain Gods power, depth, beauty, vastness, and movement within ourselves. He is too big to fit inside of our heads and hearts. isn't that amazingly encouraging? He is so much bigger than us! how could i trust a god that i could conceive? so every now and then we get to go to the beach. we experience God in a new, exciting, magnificent way. and then we bring back a little to remind us of what we experienced. my ocean in a bottle is nothing compared to the real ocean. however, it reminds me of what i have experienced and witnessed. it is a reminder of sorts, and that makes it precious.
