Today was another gloriously created day. Like the last star’s light at dawn, August is fading into sweet September. The sky was an overcast cloud collection of grays and whites, vanillas and blues, all rolled up together keeping the day pleasant. Every now and then the sun would break through the clouds with a bright yellow smile, heating up the earth a few more degrees. I was happily perched in the swing, the song birds were happily perched on the feeders and the sunflowers. The day was quiet with the symphonies of song birds and the occasional wind chime tintinnabulations. I’ve just enjoyed the day and so did Penelope and Kat as they lounged on the porch with me.

After supper I sat in the swing and watched the radiance of cardinals as they frolicked in the shadowy dusk of the evening. They are so handsome this time of year, feathered in beautifully muted colors on the spectrum of red, orange and brown. The sunset pageant was performed behind a curtain of pale gray and vanilla clouds. Mother Nature, subdued in her choice of watercolors, faintly washed the sky champagne pink as the sun rolled down the horizon in a silver sequined gown.

Father Sky was dressed casually knowing he could not be seen as he walked the sun down the pageant stage. I imagined him tanned and rosy cheeked from the sun’s warmth, dressed in starched Levis, white oxford cloth shirt tucked tightly, polished loafers on his feet. He’s a Southern gentleman no matter how he dresses. After kissing the sun goodnight, Father Sky waked Mr. Waning Gibbous Moon and hung him high in the velvet darkness to join all the twinkling stars lighting the night sky. The day ends, she slumbers peacefully, and the night quietly wakes with the lullabies of the cicadas.

“As day departs, count the pearls of joy it bestowed.” Gonna remember this quote, couldn’t find who said it, and when I say my prayers tonight I’m going to give thanks for all the pearls I found today. Historically, pearls have been seen as symbols of purity, wisdom, wealth, and status. It only takes a little grain of sand or a tiny parasite to get in the oyster shell for the oyster to create a pearl. We can look at ourselves as God’s oysters. We find unexpected gifts in our oyster shells through our faith in God. The parasites in our lives — heartache and sorrow, trials and tribulations — can be turned into pearls with God’s grace. The Lord wants to create something beautiful within us through his love and his faithfulness. He wants our hearts to be a luminious pearl of faith sharing his love and his eternal light with others, filling their hearts with his grace.

A pearl teaches us to use our pain to create beauty. Just as a pearl is formed in an oyster from a grain of sand, our spiritual growth occurs as we experience struggles and challenges. Through our prayers, our faith is layered in our hearts and our spiritual journeys turns us into pearls for the Lord. God gave the oyster the power to turn an irritant into a pearl. With faith, God can teach us to turn our adversity into a pearl.

“The heart of a man is very much like the sea, it has its storms, it has its tides and in its depths, it has its pearls, too.” — Vincent Van Gogh