The Lightning Bolt and the Long Pursuit

“It happened three years ago.”

I was just minding my own business, reading John 19, when suddenly, verse 30 stuck me like a bolt of lightning. ‘It is finished.‘ The words stopped me in my tracks, shocking me to my core. They would not let go. It was a Damascus Road Moment–a divine interruption where familiar became startlingly new.

That shock launched a 3-year pursuit to answer one burning question: What exactly is finished? This search became the foundation of Shore & Sand Co. I intended to write this story as the journey of my own seeking.

But just as I sat down to write, a single question to an AI revealed a truth I had completely missed. The lightning bolt of three years ago was not the beginning of the story; it was the climax.

The real story began 43 years ago, in the midst of a forever life-changing family crisis–my mother’s stroke. It started in a jewelry store, standing before a display of sand dollar earrings I had never seen before. I see now that this was not a coincidence. It was the beginning of a Loving God’s pursuit.

In that moment of crisis, God introduced me to His Day 5 creation–the sand dollar. He placed a tangible parable in my hands, a seed of truth that would grow silently through decades of wilderness, crisis, and ‘God Winks,’ waiting for the moment I was ready to understand.

What I thought was my search for God was actually God’s 43-year pursuit of me! The sand dollar was not just a symbol; it was a love letter sent from Creation, waiting to be opened. And now, the message is clear: IT IS FINISHED, the debt is paid, and the pursuit ends only in the perfect peace of His Love.

Now, I invite you to walk along the shore with me. As we trace the footsteps of a Loving Pursuer, may you discover the Day 5 Creation hidden in the sand–a tangible, biological proof that God has been chasing you long before you ever took your first step. Created the day before man, this simple shell stands as a bold testament that our Creator does not wait in the shadows; He actively pursues everyone, leaving His love letters in the physical world for all to touch and hold. The tide is turning, the doves are released, and the answer to ‘What is finished?’ is waiting for you. Come, see Jesus in the sand.