How Sea Glass Mission Got Her Name
In 2016 God began nudging me that I might be moving away from North Carolina. I had lived there most of my life (40 years), except for about 9 months in St. Lucia (as a little girl), and 2 years in Uganda and Washington, DC (as an adult).
It started as nudges, and as a sense of discomfort and deep sadness. I knew God was pushing me toward some kind of change, but I couldn’t imagine the thought of moving away from my family, friends, and ministry.
Then in 2017, I got asked to consider moving to Southwest Florida for a job with Young Life. At first, I said no. Then a few months later, God opened my mind and heart to the possibility again. I went for a visit and started to pray for discernment, asking God, “are you really telling me to move to Naples, Florida and leave all my loved ones and all this ministry and basically all I’ve known?”
As I prayed and pondered, a friend directed me to the book Whisper by Mark Batterson. The book is about hearing God’s voice. I desperately wanted to hear from God and know I was in His will.
I took the book on a wonderful vacation with 2 friends that November. We went to Vietnam and Bali. (I highly recommend saving up & going!) There wasn’t much opportunity for silence in Vietnam, but once we got to our little house on the beaches of Bali, I opened the book, and I sought out God’s voice.
Batterson gives lots of great thoughts and practical wisdom in his book. (highly recommend!) At the end, he reminds you that in the Bible, Gideon threw out 2 fleeces to make sure he was hearing God correctly (because it was a big thing God was asking him to do), and that we could feel the freedom to do the same.
So I threw out two fleeces to see if God was really telling me to move to southwest Florida. The first fleece: Before bed one night, I asked God to wake me up the following morning at 5:00 am on the dot, not 4:59 or 5:01 but 5:00 exactly, without an alarm clock. The next morning, I woke up suddenly. I remember turning in amazement to the travel alarm clock on my bedside table and seeing the time: 5:00 am.
Later that day, I decided to throw out the second fleece. I love sea glass and have collected it all my life. On this trip, we had collected pieces each day on our beach walks- mainly green, clear and brown ones. That afternoon I went out by myself praying to God, “I think you’re telling me to move to SW Florida. Will you bless me with a piece of blue sea glass, so I’ll know that’s where you want me to go?”
About a minute later, I walked up to a piece of bright blue sea glass, right in my path. I couldn’t believe it. Even as I tell this story years later, my eyes fill with tears as I remember holding the piece close to my heart and saying, “God you love me. You care about me, to answer my question. You heard me!”
Then as I kept walking, marveling at the gift God gave me, I saw a large piece of purple sea glass. I was amazed. I remember thinking, “I’ve never seen purple sea glass before.” As I bent down to pick it up, I felt God say to me, “I’m going to show you things you’ve never seen before.”
I felt such a peace to hear from God that day. I asked in faith (a mustard seed’s worth), and he answered! He gave me assurance in HIM, not in what would happen but that He was directing me there and would continue to direct me each step of the way.
God has shown me things I’ve never seen before by coming to southwest Florida. About 10 months after I moved down here, he showed me to my husband and my future stepchildren. He taught me so much about servant leadership that I could’ve never learned if I had stayed in NC. He slowed me down so I could focus on pleasing him.
God also showed me a vision for Sea Glass Mission. When I was unsure how it would even work as I considered starting this ministry, God woke me in the middle of the night and said, “remember the promise.” My mind went to the purple sea glass. God was going to show me things that I had never seen before through starting this ministry, and I am so grateful for his loving leadership every day.
I think back to that time of inner turmoil and uncertainty in 2016 and 2017. Hearing from God was a process. It was part of my surrendering to him. It wasn’t an instant. It was during a time of great refinement and letting go of my way to lean into his way. (Proverbs 3:5-6)
It was also a gift to be able to ask him for guidance and assurance. We can ask our Heavenly Father! Ask and wait expectantly for his whisper. He hears you asking, and he loves your child-like faith!
“I love the Lord because he hears my voice and my prayer for mercy. Because he bends down to listen, I will pray as long as I have breath!” Psalm 116:1-2 [NLT]
