For our first intentional family Sabbath we had crepes with blueberries and honeydew melon for brunch.

The table looked lovely, and on each plate were some words from the psalm of the day

The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it,
    the world, and all who live in it;
for he founded it on the seas
    and established it on the waters.

Psalm 24

One of our favourite places is Brixham, and we all love swimming in the sea, except Lily the Puggle who can’t swim but loves to run around the shore. Each place also had a shell, each different, for us to use as a fiddle toy, or meditation aid, a focus for prayer, for listening to God…

My shell was so pretty, pink and white stripes swirling from the shell’s opening to its conical centre. It was a joy to hold, to observe, to pray with. As I held it I was reminded that shells aren’t simply beach decorations, but homes to sea creatures: this shell had once been a home.

We are in the process of moving home. Downsizing from our beautiful large rectory with wild garden inhabited by butterflies and bees (at least 2 nests in the chimney) and very free range chickens, to a modern, new build ‘box’ of a house.

As I spent time with my shell I noticed that it wasn’t just pretty on the outside it was pretty on the inside too, perhaps even beautiful. The inside was coated with a silvery, shiny, inlay of mother of pearl. Why would God choose to tuck this beauty inside a shell where it couldn’t be seen, why would God care so much about a sea creature, an ‘unclean’ shellfish at that?

Perhaps it wasn’t an architectural feature, rather a reflection of the life spent within it? Perhaps the beauty of our home hasn’t so much been the large space and original features (and open fire!), or even the rather grand furniture we have accumulated over the years. Perhaps the beauty of this house is the fact that it has been our home, the place where we have all grown, and where our kids have found their independence and shaped their individual identities.

Time spent with the shell made me realise that our next house isn’t a house at all, it is a home, and will be as beautiful as the love that we share within it.