There is one place (well more than one but this one especially) that makes me feel very small and God incredibly big. It reminds me of who I am in the largeness (is that even a word?) of life. It’s also a place that I LOVE to be, the ocean (especially when it’s warm). I could sit for hours on the sand, with the sun on my face, taking it all in and being quiet (and that’s not easy to do, being quiet). But the ocean is also terrifying to me. The unknowns of the deep are a little unsettling. Can anyone relate to that?
Our friends treated us to a trip to the Atlanta Aquarium and it was AWESOME. You have to know that my dream job used to be (and still is a little) to work with dolphins. I love water and I love dolphins. I could sit ALL day long and watch fish, penguins, manatee, dolphins, etc. swim through the water. My kids don’t have that attention span though so we didn’t get to do that. It was such a fun time and I’m pretty sure I was more excited than all the kids combined.
Anyway, I was once again struck by how incredible God is while we were there. I just can’t fathom how anyone can think that all the amazing, intricate things of this world just somehow came to be all by themselves. That’s way harder for me to believe than the fact that there’s a God who created it all. It’s all just too fascinating to have happened by chance.
Here are some things that stuck out about God at the aquarium:
He is incredibly big, powerful, and worthy of our fear and awe because these creatures exist.Yikes! (If you notice in the picture there are scuba divers in there. You couldn’t pay me to swim with those sharks and whale sharks. Holy terror. I’m content to watch from outside the 4 ft. thick wall of glass thank you very much.)
He is, and has made life incredibly beautiful.
He has also made a world full of beautiful, strange, and unique things. Whether it’s people or creatures in the sea they are all unique and created for a purpose. It reminds me to not spend so much time comparing myself to others. I’m not made to look like, act or function just like someone else. He made us how we are for a reason so lets be who we are and glorify Him while doing it. Stop trying to be a yellow sea horse when he made you a jelly fish. You get the idea. But look how amazing they are!!!
I took so many more pictures than that while I was there but obviously can’t share them all here. Whether sitting on the beach looking at the surface of the ocean or getting a glimpse of the world below I’m always struck by the beauty, majesty, vastness, scariness, and mystery of it all. God is all those things to me as well and that’s what makes Him so great and thrilling to follow, even if it’s a little terrifying at times.