Spirit Animal

For as long as I can remember, I’ve been drawn to the ocean. The feeling is almost, instinctual. When I was little my mother used to always say that I was constantly chasing a world that was away from the solid ground my feet had been planted on. Almost as if I was a baby sea turtle, racing towards the unknown. Drawn into the vastness of the ocean. A place I would soon call home.

Interesting fact, female sea turtles are actually drawn back towards the same beach where they themselves hatched due to the magnetic pull from the earth that gets imprinted in them when they are born. This magnetic pull helps them find their way back home, to lay their own eggs,

Its intriguing to think that these fragile and seemingly helpless creatures have so much more to them than we see. I have faced this similar fragility, in its equivocal beauty. We all have. As a child of God, Jesus has also imprinted in me a home, which is his heart.

Like baby sea turtles my journey begins with the struggle to break out of my shell and venture out into the world that is set before me. Barely 2 inches in size, the same way I feel in comparison to all that’s out there. It would be easy for us to feel that small and insignificant.

The moment that I do breakout and begin to get a pivotal sense of what is out there for me, I become impatient to leave the safety of my nest and I’m willing to use anything as leverage to climb to the top, away from the sandpit I was in.

The little babies use each others bodies as leverage to climb out of the sandpit. This is what I refer to as the initial selfish stage. A stage that Jesus permits as it is just the beginning of all that you will learn to be.

I’m so impatient to get a move on towards what is seemingly my destiny. But I’m not fully aware of what exactly that entails.

Sea turtles are born with an instinctual mechanism that draws them towards the ocean from the moonlight that reflects on the ocean water.

God is in that metaphorical sense, the same light that guides me where I need to go. I’m thus through his love and grace, drawn to this light. Though my eyes are still young and faint, it is in this light they place their trust.

These babies face an immense amount of natural predators– seagulls, foxes, raccoons and species of bird love to prey on these youngsters.

Many volunteer programs have been implemented to ensure that the survival rate of these babies along their coast is increased. Yet still, the chances of them reaching the water safely is 1 in 1000, and the chances of female turtles surviving long enough to return home to nest is 1 in 10, 000. I want you to keep these figures in mind.

It is in this instance that I think of how fragile I feel against the opposition and natural predators I face in my life. In a sea of people, all making the same journey, it is still possible to feel very much alone at times. It can be very over-whelming, this life. But Jesus is my fiercest protector and no matter the dangers or challenges that lie ahead, under his wings I find refuge. I can continue persistently with reckless bravery. He promises in psalm 91 to those who have faith in him- “ a thousand may fall at your side. Ten thousand at your right hand. But no harm will befall you.” Do those figures sound familiar?

Baby sea turtles can very often get confused and disoriented by the frenzy happening around them. Various different, forms of light such as street lights and house lights can cause the little guys to get disoriented and wander in the wrong direction.

A subtle light, preferably red must be used to redirect the confused babies back in the right direction. The light cannot be too bright as it would affect their still extremely sensitive eyes.

This reminds me of the grace of God whenever our circumstances and worries tend to get to us. I am prone to wandering. Disoriented by my confused state of what is right and wrong. When this happens Jesus attends to us through his unforced rhythms of grace. That is to say that the help he offers is unforced and beautifully embedded in grace. It is subtle, so that we are not overwhelmed. So that we can also navigate based on our free will.

If the volunteers were to interfere drastically with the sea-turtles free movement towards the ocean it would alter their ability to depend on their own natural instincts.

So now I’m on my own unique Journey with God, and the closer I get to the ocean and the wetter the sand beneath my feet feels, the faster my steps become. I am so eager to go where he has called me to go. And when my body finally comes into contact with the water, I’ll know it was all worth it. The good and the bad, He made all things work together for the good. I made it to my purpose, to my home.

I swim rapidly, my little turtle flippers flapping with all the strength I can muster. I’m so unaware that it’s actually the current doing majority of the work for me. The current symbolizes his graciousness which I often mistake as my own strength.

These little baby sea turtles will grow and amount to something so much bigger than you’d think possible, and so will I. I was made for this, this is my home, and I believe with all my heart that I will make it. I hope you do too.