add to the beauty

There was a point last year when I finally broke.  I took every sign in my house that declared life to be beautiful or God to be good and put it in a box.  A plain, ugly, brown box.  I then carried this ugly box to the back of my closet and shoved it next to the shoes I never wear but still love so much I don't want to give away.  It felt good to see the empty spaces on the walls.  It felt good for my sacred space of home to reflect the interior of my heart - it is all broken and God is elusive as ever.  

Once I finally gave into the weight of the brokenness and admitted to myself that it was all too much for me to bear, I could truly begin to grieve and in the grief, begin to heal.  I'm pretty sure I will be healing my whole life long.  And again and again and again returning to the small, quiet space of learning to trust in a good God to work and move and redeem all the pain-filled, unbearable brokenness.  

I recently re-hung my cute little distressed sign that says "Life is Beauty Full." I am searching for it, the beauty.  Collecting it like I would something valuable and essential.  And in light of the election and its aftermath and the pain of friends and family I think I'd like to share the beauty I find in the ordinary, every day with you.  More than that, I think I'm being asked to. We all need reminded that beauty exists and it is still out there to be gathered, waiting for us to share the very heart of it, God's good love, in this broken world.