Day 15: Sunset parable

(First off...I'm sorry if I left anything out. I had saved an itinerary of the trip for when I blogged about it, but it got lost at my parents' this weekend. I had brought it down to tell them about my trip, but we never even got around to it, so it was kind of a waste. =( bummer!)

Today we started off the day by going clam digging. I had never gone digging for clams before, so it was a fun & new experience for me. I wish I'd had some aquasocks that wouldn't have let the rocks inside, but my sandals worked pretty well. We caught a TON of clams. You wait for the tide to go out, then watch for a squirt of water that tells you there's a clam there. Once you find one, you dig down next to it (not right above it or you could chop off their neck) and then go sideways with your hands once you've dug down next to it. We found lots of horse (or imperial) clams and some steamer clams, as well as a few crabs. There was a nice guy in the stake over there that allowed us to come and dig his private beach, which was so nice of him! Then we went to Rosario Beach (I think!) near Deception Pass again and just had some free time. Some of the girls went kayaking, some played in the water, some sunbathed & talked, etc. It was a lot of fun! Then we had a clam bake. We had clam chowder, fried clam strips, fresh Dungeness crab, hot dogs, and salads. Mmm! After dinner, we went up on a cliff, had a devotional, and then watched the sunset. It was so great! While watching it, I had this parable-esque thing come to mind:

So the sun set behind a cliff on an island/mass of land across the water. After about 30 seconds or so, the pretty colors started to develop. As time went on, the sky got more and more beautiful as the colors spread and deepened. I thought this had a parallel to our lives. We go through a trial-our own "dark age." It takes a little bit of time before we are able to see the growth and blessings that stemmed from that trial. As time goes on, you see more and more blessings develop because you went through that trial. I just thought it was a really neat analogy and could maybe help me keep my focus through my trials. They will pass, and I will be blessed because of them.