Learning from building a sandcastle

I received an email at 10pm the night before that our 940am flight (from Caticlan to Manila) was cancelled. I only had 3 options: re-book to an available flight, refund in full (which was crazy cause it means me buying at this point a ticket at super high price) or convert to travel credits. Though these were all unacceptable options because these all meant shelling out extra money I had no choice but cancel meetings and miss again my class in Counseling (which i really look forward to). So we got moved to a 5pm flight via Kalibo which was a lot cheaper but Cebu Pacific didn’t want to give us refund nor even offer to give us a free ride from Caticlan to Kalibo (mental note: Never fly Cebu pacific again…) But when my schedule gets interrupted I think of it as a divine appointment for some learning moments.

So we just spent the morning on the beach, and for the first time in years or maybe even a decade, I find myself making sand castles (or fortress) on the shore. As I sat there building, I realized God was speaking and teaching me through these activities.

The importance of just starting – I drew a square on the ground about 2.5 feet x 2.5 feet. Told JD that we are to put sand around this marked square. It was a bit difficult cause the sand was a bit hard. – Almost always, the hardest thing in doing something is starting. When you have an idea, regardless of how crazy it is… just go for it. Don’t be afraid to do some leap of faith. You will never know what the outcome will be like. It could be a start of something bigger and grand than you first thought it would be.

Tools – for each task given for us to do, God sends us tools to use. These tools when used correctly are designed to make tasks easier. – In our Christian walk for example, we have so much tools like pod cast, videos, bible studies, devotions, youversions and similar apps, journals… but many people don’t use them. Look around you today, instead of complaining of what you cannot do, find the tools made available for you to do.

Importance of Foundation – as I was building, I remember picking from 2 areas… Where do I build, in the dry area where the sand is soft or a bit near the water where I have closer access to water. I chose the later one which was ok until I was digging deeper. after a while, I found water in the middle of the fort I was building because I was already digging below sea level. This is when I realize I made the wrong choice in choosing a foundation. Foundation is important… don’t be in a rush to build at least not until your foundations are secured. Stability of your foundation determines how far you’ll go.

Dealing with adversity – So I started to take out the water which was actually making my wall foundation weak. It kept going higher and higher until I gave up and said “Maybe it wont crumble and won’t affect my walls.” but it did. – Adversities and challenges are part of life. The harder the battle – the sweeter the victory. Don’t ever stop just because someone is opposing you.

Fixing the cracks – As my walls got higher, some parts crumbled… no matter how I build, the parts affected by water wouldn’t go up. Cracks would always show that when unfixed (because it was just all over) crumbled the entire section of that wall. – I realize this was like our character, if it has flaws that needs fixing and you just brush it off and say “They’ll just have to live with it.” eventually it will crumble down the entire you. If there are leaks in your character, fix it….

Legacy – As I sat there, eventually Sabrina got out of the water, jumped in the fort and helped me out. At that moment, I thought, great… someone actually thought that my vision of creating a fortress was worthwhile and decided to help. At that moment, I thought “Now I can rest… someone will continue on what I’m doing.” – Do you have someone who will continue on doing your vision after you’re gone? If you don’t then poor you, your vision dies with you.

Eventually, I noticed that the water inside the fort was increasing. I looked around and saw that the shoreline was getting closer. In a few more minutes, the waves washed away what took us the entire morning to build. I realize life is like this… here today and gone tomorrow. Also, that many of us spend so much effort on things that will be gone someday… often times on things that will be gone too soon. Don’t work too much for material things. Life was not made for material things. Set your eyes on thing that are eternal. Set your eyes on the Lord.

To sum everything up: Life is a journey of learnings. The learnings are packaged differently sometimes in your greatest highs, sometimes in the lowest of lows. You just need to be a willing student. So sit in and don’t miss the lessons. God constantly speaks to us, but the problem is, there is just too much noise generated by our busyness. So when God makes some sort of interruptions such as flight cancellations and delays, instead of grumbling get excited to hear from the Master Teacher.