Sand in the Carpet

I spent a good part of this morning marveling at some of the most beautiful sand I have ever seen. Unfortunately, it was not in the Caribbean or on Waikiki Beach. It was scattered across my basement floor.

I had offered to do some laundry for my son who recently returned from a trip. Without asking specifically, I grabbed a pair of his khaki shorts. As I carried them to the laundry room, an odd sensation hit my bare feet. What in the world - falling sand?

I realized that my son's pocket contained a souvenir handful from the Mediterranean. This sand had made its way into the pocket, across the Atlantic and even survived an arduous airport security check. After all that, it somehow felt wrong to end its journey with the whirl of the vacuum cleaner. I stared at the floor. Sadly, the vacuum cleaner seemed like the best option.

Then my maternal conscience won out. When I told my son what had happened, he offered to rescue the tiny grains. But since I felt responsible, I decided to clean up the mess. It turned out not to be such a mess after all.

At first glance, the sand just looked like a bunch of dark specks in the carpet. This was going to be a job. As I knelt down and began picking grains, I thought of Genesis 22:17 where God had promised a childless Abraham that his descendants would be multiplied as the sand of the seashore. Hmm. Good analogy. It seemed like there were countless grains right here in my carpet!

Then I noticed something. The grains were not all dark and round. Some were long and flat...some were a calming grey color and still others were white or pink and glistened like Mother of Pearl. Many of the black specks had an amazing sheen. Wow; I had never seen sand like this before. Each grain seemed unique. And precious. And beautiful. As I relaxed and threw myself into the task, picking them up became an interesting pleasure.

Then it hit me. These grains of sand really are like people; people whom I sometimes rush by in much the same way as I had wanted to quickly vacuum up my "mess". When I do that, I surely miss a whole lot of goodness and beauty.

Today's mishap was a reminder to slow down and relate to each person in my day as the unique and amazing person that they are. Really! What if I hear my husband's feelings, and not just his voice? What if I consider my kids' questions as opportunities to know them better? What if when I'm working with a group of people, I try to relate to each one as unique and interesting, with different needs, abilities and things to offer? What if I try to be more patient with and understanding of myself?

This will take time and effort, listening and learning...but the reward will be great: loving and being loved more deeply. And I know that it will be worth it... Just like all those precious grains of sand.