It occurs to me that among all the nastiness in the news, the daily sightings of corruption and evil, the disasters which plague our world, the disease which reminds us of all-too-present mortality, that God blesses us daily with beauty enough to compensate. Beauty generates happiness, and although it is as fleeting as an image in a mirror or a dream which fades with morning’s light, that beauty is a God-designed balm for our souls.
The problem is that we fail to notice it in our busyness. Let me share some things which balanced my days recently.
In the dying of a dear friend and prayer warrior last week, I experienced the beauty of twenty or so loved ones coming together to sing hymns of the faith just hours before he joined the Lord. The words spoke to us about the hope of Jesus Christ’s love, and the certainty of heaven’s blessings.
In the news that my brother’s battle with cancer is terminal, I found the impetus to complete chapters of my book which may give him comfort. My book is a memoir called Bless You Bouquets, in which I recount the mentoring, guidance, and memories about people who have blessed our family and who have particularly blessed me.
In the endeavor to feed the musicians and singers of the Space Coast Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, four of us worked long and hard to provide a meal to refresh them between two performances yesterday. It was a huge undertaking. Our gain? The numerous thank you’s and a beautiful, fabulous concert.
Years ago, when I, like Sarah in the Bible, longed for children, I never imagined I would live to see a grandchild and aniticipate another coming in October. Those rich prayers long ago resulted in two beautiful children born to me when we were thirty-nine and forty-two years old. God is so good!
In that same concert last night, I saw the beauty of my son and granddaughter’s relationship. Kaley, just two, enjoyed the concert sitting on Daddy’s knees, alert to the music, loving to be there, erupting in applause at the very moment it was appropriate, and welcoming her mom, one of the musicians on stage, enthusiastically during intermission. Is there anything more beautiful than watching a granddaughter learn love of family, love of music, and love of life itself?
And our beautiful daughter, the doting aunt, loves every minute she can spend with her sweet niece. How I long for a loving Christian man to sweep her off her feet and with her, create a family of her own. Will that blessing occur as well? I long to see her as a beautiful bride. Thank you, Lord, in advance for that blessing!
And as I face the reality of another birthday, now three-score-ten-and-three, truly Biblical proportions of strength and thanksgiving, I daily feel the inadequacies of that fact. The body is more tired than the willing flesh, and the frustrations of not being able to see as well, to hear as well, to sleep long and hard, to garden with enthusiasm, or to complete more than one task, it seems, in a day, I still celebrate the eagerness of a new morning and the blessings it will hold. With dear friends and my wonderful husband, we braved the heat and mosquitoes once again to visit McKee Botanical Gardens for my now annual visit during my birthday week. Yesterday I processed over 100 pictures of God’s beauty. May they bless those who see them.
So now, a seemingly endless day begins, a Sabbath day of rest which includes all kinds of activities before, during, and after church, I am reminded of the beauty of being able to be there. That is a blessing in itself, isn’t it? I anticipate the beauty of worship, the beauty of music, the beauty of my friends’ faces and hugs, the beauty of anticipating future church blessings as we clear land for future use, the beauty of celebrating a meal together as a family, and the beauty of eventually–much later in the day–watching the moon, which authorities say is at its closest distance to the earth today, as it lights up the sky with beautiful radiance.
So as the Lord continues to bless me with enough beauty in my life to make each day more than worth living, I say with the Psalmist: Praise the Lord. Praise God in his sanctuary, praise him in his mighty heavens. Praise him for his acts of power, praise him for his surpassing greatness. Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet, praise him with the harp and lyre, praise him with tambourine and dancing, praise him with the strings and flute, praise him with the clash of cymbals, praise him with resounding cymbals. let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord! (Psalm 150)
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