The beach is one of my most favorite places to be. No where else have I traveled brings me such peace and tranquility. I’ve been to countless shores and experienced the beauty of many horizons, but my favorite location is the Pinellas peninsula on the west coast of Florida rightfully called The Sun Coast. It’s where my husband and I shared our first kiss, my dad gave me away in marriage, and our oldest daughter learned to swim. It’s where the most gorgeous sunsets creep behind the horizon to reveal a plethora of reflective colors in the sky that remind me of just how awesome our Creator is. I love this place. 
Yesterday, our kids were collecting seashells. One after the other they would bring their salty treasures to me as I bathed in the sun’s rays. Like every other mom out there, I would exclaim with excitement how cool each seashell, rock, and even a dead crab looked. Later that evening as I gathered up the day’s bounty, I noticed something intriguing about each seashell. Not one was “perfect”. Each shell was cracked, misshapen or otherwise odd. And yet to our kids, they were PERFECT. As I pondered this revelation, it occurred to me that this is exactly how our kids see others. They look past so-called flaws, colors, sexual orientations, beliefs, etc and they see perfections. Just like the seashells they each collected, they treasure and admire others the same. 
Sometimes as parents we wonder about what we might be doing right or wrong in the upbringing of our children; but one thing I know for certain is that we are raising compassionate humans who love others in spite of imperfections. Nothing is more peaceful than seeing the nature of Christ in our children. 

“For My hand made all these things, Thus all these things came into being,” declares the LORD “But to this one I will look, To him who is humble and contrite of spirit, and who trembles at My word.” Isaiah 66:2
“For You do not delight in sacrifice, otherwise I would give it; You are not pleased with burnt offerings. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; A broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.” Psalm 51:16-17