Sea Hearts
“Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.” Psalm 37:4
Last November, I sat alone on this same beach with a notebook and a mind racing with goals.
Not just ordinary goals. I was searching for something that felt meaningful. Something that would stretch me and help me grow. Something that belonged to me.
That afternoon became the beginning of my Big Wild Goal.
This week, I’m back at Crystal Beach with my family.
I’ve always felt my deepest inspiration and introspection when I’m near the ocean. There is something about the sound of the waves, the salty air, and the endless horizon that helps me slow down enough to hear my own thoughts.
The forecast called for Tropical Storm Arthur to arrive, and I was fully expecting our first day at the beach to be a washout. So this morning, despite the forecast, Jim and I loaded up the boys on the golf cart and headed down the beach. It was not raining, but it had been a downpour overnight.
We love to ride golf carts on Crystal Beach, and we especially love beachcombing. Sea glass. Seashells. Sea beans. Driftwood. Anything unusual.
As we drove along the water’s edge, I spotted something large and dark near the sand. It was the largest sea bean either of us had ever seen.
It was a sea heart.
As Jim and I celebrated this unbelievable find, he spotted another. By the time we headed home, we had found four. There was an unbelievable amount of joy in this discovery. Our hearts were overflowing. Jim even asked me, “Would you rather have a concert set list or four sea hearts?” and I said, “Four sea hearts.”
In all our years coming to Crystal Beach, we’ve only found a handful of hamburger sea beans. Finding four sea hearts in a single ride felt like a gift from God.
It was a gift from God.
Naturally, I started reading about them as soon as we got home, cleaned them up, and removed the barnacles. What fascinated me most wasn’t how rare they are. It was how they are designed.
Sea hearts are built to wait.
Their seed coat is so hard and waterproof that they can float for years without germinating. They simply wait for the right conditions and the right shore.
They survive everything. Salt water. Storms. Being tossed against rocks. Years of sun and cold. Yet they arrive whole, still capable of growing.
And perhaps most interesting of all, they don’t force the destination. They surrender to the current and trust the journey.
As I read that, I couldn’t help but think about my own Big Wild Goal and trusting God.
The dream of writing a children’s book spent years floating around in my mind before I finally gave it a place to land.
Life happened. Responsibilities happened. Career changes happened. Excuses happened.
The dream was waiting.
Maybe that’s why finding those sea hearts felt so meaningful. Sometimes dreams have to travel longer than we expect before they find the shore where they’re meant to grow.
I could not believe it.
Later in the day, we took the entire family back out on the beach. What began as an exciting discovery became a family treasure hunt. We all found many more sea hearts and several hamburger sea beans. We laughed and had so much joy together.
I felt the presence of God with us all day.
And as I walked the beach with a sea heart in my hand, I found myself thinking about the response to my last article. Honestly, I wasn’t sure what would happen when I published My Big Wild Goal. It felt more personal and vulnerable than most things I’ve written. But the responses have touched me deeply.
One woman told me, “This article is exactly what I needed to read today.”
Another wrote, “The article prompted me to think about my own Big Wild Goal.”
My 80-year-old friend shared, “The last one, about setting a goal for the year, really got me thinking about how my life has been going.”
And another reader told me, “Your article resonated with me and honestly made me feel supported in my own aspirations and wild goals.”
I have read every comment, message, and email. Thank you!
I will come back to them on the hard days.
I hope you all feel permission to pursue something that feels wildly ambitious, deeply personal, and maybe even a little unnecessary or scary.
In many ways, those messages felt like sea hearts. Unexpected gifts. Small reminders that when we put something meaningful into the world, we never fully know where it might land.
Getting those sea hearts today felt like a message God was sending me.
Keep going.
Trust the journey.
Trust His promise.
Don’t give up before the dream finds its shore.
As for the book, the journey continues.
My illustrator, Millie, is currently waiting on feedback from me for the third sketch of Pages 11 and 12, the scene inside Our Father’s House.
The development of that scene has evolved more than almost any other part of the book. What started as a simple hallway has transformed into something much richer and more meaningful than I originally imagined.
I can’t wait to share the story behind it someday.
But not yet.
For now, I’m waiting until the final painted artwork is complete because I want you to experience it the same way I did: watching the idea slowly come to life.
I’m incredibly grateful for Millie’s creativity, patience, and willingness to keep exploring possibilities with me until we find exactly the right one.
For now, I’ll keep collecting sea hearts and sea beans, making notes in my notebook, and following where this Big Wild Goal leads as I focus on Jonner and the Stuffed Animal Mansion.
Because sometimes the forecast says rain, and you go anyway.
And sometimes you find treasures you never expected.
