True Grit

There's nothing quite like a family vacation to the beach. Surf, sun and sunscreen have a way of drawing a family closer. I can usually even get past the bathing suit part, though there's definitely an annual swimsuit-trauma that results in the entire family eating menus centered around celery for four weeks.   My family endures "Annual Celery Month" because they love the beach pay-off (even if they don't love my celery and rice-cake casserole).

We came home from our last beach trip with a ton of souvenirs. Actually, it was a few souvenirs and a ton of sand. A beach vacation truly is a close family time, but the traveling involves a different kind of closeness - elbow-to-elbow in the car. It's even more uncomfortable on the way home when there's sand between each elbow.

We still seem to be inventorying bushels of souvenir sand. I think we have more now than we had then. Does this stuff multiply? It seemed at every rest stop on the way home, we could open the car door and see yet another pile of sand pour out. We left little "dunes" across six states. There was sand in each shoe, sand in every suitcase, sand in each pocket - all times seven people! It doesn't even wash out of the clothes, it just sort of moves around.

I have to admit there came a time when I wanted absolutely nothing more to do with our souvenir sand. I could hardly close my mouth without feeling grit scritching between my teeth. I really have to draw the line at souvenirs in my molars.

The good news is that we don't have to save up for any more of those beach vacations. Not because we didn't enjoy the beach, but because I think we brought most of it home with us. From now on, I can just blow up a couple of beach balls and send the kids to the car.

I still had to be careful unpacking. I had to keep an eyeball on the cat at all times. When he noticed suitcases full of sand, he thought we had brought souvenirs home for him! It was a litter/grit disaster just waiting to happen.

Have you ever thought about the grit of salt? To be honest, I never thought much about its grittiness. I guess it's because I so enjoy what it can do to a bag of fries - even a celery casserole. But what if the salt weren't, well - salty? Without its saltiness, it would merely be an annoying scritch between the molars.

In Matthew 5:13-16, Jesus said, "You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men--let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven."

Salt seasons. It has a purifying effect. It makes people thirsty. It's even used to preserve.  Without our saltiness, we're just grit. We're like the sand without the fun of the beach.

I should never take a vacation from asking myself the big "salt" questions:

- Am I spicing up life for those around me?

- Am I having a purifying effect on the people I meet?

- Am I encouraging others to thirst for Jesus?

- Am I allowing God to use me to preserve life, or am I ignoring the spiritual death in those I encounter every day?

- Am I allowing the Lord to use my saltiness to show off his good works and bring glory to him, or am I just empty grit?

I want to be salt - not just grit. I get a little reminder every time I pull out my favorite vacation shorts and stick my hands in the pockets. You guessed it - a mini-trip to Grit City.

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Contributed by Rhonda Rhearrhea@juno.comRhonda Rhea writes for dozens of great Christian publications and speaks at conferences and events across the country. You can find her new book, Amusing Grace, at your local Christian bookstore. Rhonda's husband, Richie Rhea, is a pastor in Troy, Missouri. You can reach them through her Web site atwww.rhondarhea.net