Eyes for Beauty

I rise after another restless night. Hot water soothing aching joints. Streaming water runs down my face washing away the lines left from streaming tears.

C.S. Lewis wrote, "God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains; it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world."

Sometimes the noise of pain is deafening. It drowns out everything else. In those moments I am reminded that this world is broken, hurting, in need of redemption.

But in the midst of this pain, there is beauty. Beauty is masked by pain, which makes it difficult to see, but it is still there. The writer of Ecclesiastes tells us these are the "portions" that God has given us.

I must fight to have eyes for beauty.

Today I am finding beauty in the beautiful arrangement of lilies he gave me. A lunch date with a couple of my girls, filled with both tears and laughter. Clean laundry. Fresh air flowing through open windows. Sunshine. Purple flats. Sharing cookies.

These moments are the echoes of Eden and the glimpses into Heaven. The lingering aroma of the past and the fragrance of what is yet to come.

These are the moments that fill my gratitude journal.

These are the moments that make my heart sing.

These are my portion for today.