The World is Your Oyster

Day 169 of Photo Inspiration – The World is Your Oyster
That saying implies that the world is laid out before us like a plate of oysters needing only to be pried open to be enjoyed, perhaps with a pearl as a prize.  It's all the opportunities that await us when we take the limits off.

That saying is especially appropriate for the young people I witnessed debating foreign policies or giving speeches in many various and relevant categories at last week’s NCFCA National Speech & Debate Competitions in Minnesota. I was so impressed with the creativity and eloquence of all of those young people.   No doubt a foundation is being laid that will open doors to so many opportunities to them -- whether it's in politics, law, teaching, ministering or any area of life that they pursue.  I was amazed at the various personalities of the students, the subjects of their speeches -- some hilarious, some were detailed with great information, some were inspiring, some were heart-wrenching, but all of them were from their "point of view".

To burn some of the 12-hours that we had on our trip home yesterday, I came up with the brainy idea for us to give “Impromptu” speeches on random words. (This is a category in the Speech Competitions.)   The first word chosen was "corn".  Watch the various "points of view" here:   Lexi was first.   She had three points in her speech:  1) the importance of corn; 2) the history of corn and 3) how to eat it properly.  Then Staci spoke about corn – the seed time and harvest of corn is like the making of a leader (Shepherd boy to King David).  Larry spoke about the uses of corn:  feeding people; feeding animals and using it to make ethanol (fuel in cars).  Denise talked about pop-corn.  And I talked about Dr. Scholl’s corn pads for bunions or corns.  LOL!
 

We each had our own “point of view”.   Isn't that how God created us -- with our various personalities and thinking skills?  Some of us are right brain thinkers -- artistic and creative,  while others are left brains -- logical and detailed.   That’s why teamwork is so important – obtaining different views and ideas and utilizing each other’s brain power to resolve a problem, get the details of a project done, or come up with a great idea.

I watched our little "right brain -- artistic Lexi" work on graphics for a substantial amount of time on our ride home -- thus the photo inspiration of her holding the world.

Yes, “The World is an Oyster” for those who are willing to think, to share, to create.  Let's go ahead and open up the brilliant minds God gave us and start looking for the pearl in the oyster!

The Pearl of Great Price

God is relentless in His pursuit of us. He speaks to us in a thousand different ways, endeavoring to get our attention. He is passionate in His love for us, and patient in His tolerance of us. And, just in case you ever doubt your self-worth, here is proof positive of how special and amazing you are:

In Matthew 13:45-46, Jesus told a simple little story about a merchant who was on a venture, trying to find expensive, beautiful gems. He was especially interested in finding pearls. Jesus said this man, looking for valuable pearls, found one pearl of great price. It was so exquisite, so beautiful, so rare, so valuable, he sold everything he had and he went and he bought that pearl.

YOU are the pearl of great price and God’s highest treasure. He searched far and wide for you, and He was overjoyed when He finally found you. You may have been covered with a little dirt when He first dug you up, but that didn’t matter to Him. He saw the beauty inside you, and He is committed to cleaning and polishing you until you glow with His radiance. Yes, you are His precious child who possesses the character and likeness of Him, the perfect Pearl. And doesn't that make us want to return His love by a relentess, consuming and passionate pursuit of Him?