I L-OOOOVE decorating.

It’s something that really gets my artsy vein pumping. I have a hard time leaving my furniture in the same spot for very long, I
like to switch things out and rearrange them.  Most of my time spent sitting on the couch in my living room involves dreaming of the perfect piece to add:  a seasonal decor item, something from the new Target line that whispers sweet nothings in my ear or that appliquéd pillow with just the right POP of color.  Then I’ll start daydreaming  about that old slab of wood lying in my garage that is just begging me to do something with it. Paint me, put some cool knobs on me, cover me with chalk paint. Do something to me!!!

I’m drawn to things like old wooden ladders, cotton branches, painted furniture, chalkboards & olive buckets. They seriously make me happy!! Recently I’ve discovered that most of the things in life that I enjoy and am drawn to, leave me holding this one word: beauty.

It seems to be the common denominator.  I love to express beauty in my writing, in my home decor, in my friendships, my wardrobe and even my cooking.  But for so long I feel like I’ve shied away from vocalizing these thoughts and feelings. Feeling mildly ashamed and thinking in my head that somehow it’s shallow of me. That it’s shallow to want to make things beautiful.  After all, there’s a hurt and aching world out there, surely there must be a higher calling than just wanting to make things beautiful.  When spoken out loud it seems so Superficial. Like an ugly stepsister to Shallow and I don’t want to be related to either one of them.

And yet…  Jesus was all about bringing beauty to this world.  From Creation to the grave. Even his blood stained hands reflect the beauty of his unfathomable love for us.

Proof that beauty can be a marker of love. 

I’ve been following this idea around lately, this idea that even the everyday physical can be spiritual.

The belief that God can take my offering, my life, my work and make it a spiritual act with spiritual significance. 

And this idea itself is something beautiful.

Our physical acts become spiritual when done with love. Sometimes the most spiritual things we do are physical acts. The dinner we cook for our family after a long day, the note we drop in the mail to encourage a friend, the laundry we do in the wee hours of the night so our kids can wear their favorite sweatshirt to school the next day. These are all physical acts that when done in love, reveal beauty.

Love produces beauty. It always will. 

Because it’s beautiful to cook a meal for your family after you’ve worked hard all day and are bone tired. It’s beautiful to celebrate and encourage friends. It’s downright gorgeous to give yourself more laundry just because little miss wants to wear her favorite shirt tomorrow.

It can literally change your life when you believe that the mundane things you do during the day can have a spiritual significance. And I know, oh I know all too well ladies, that it’s hard to feel the weight of our significance while slathering peanut butter on bread in the morning for the kid who just realized school hot lunch was sloppy joe’s.  I realize that much of what we do feels oh so physical and not at all spiritual.

But I would gently remind  you of the same thing we whisper into our kids’ ears from time to time, “Just because you FEEL something, doesn’t make it TRUE.” 

We have to constantly remind ourselves of truth. And here’s a truth for you:Love paints a beautiful picture. Love is what makes the mundane act of making a child’s lunch beautiful.  Love is what gets us through a tough day of parenting only to be reminded at tuck in time what a blessing that strong-willed child is. The brushstrokes of love cover our days, gently blending in the rough edges of life and leaving us with our own masterpiece, one that is nothing short of breathtaking.

We’re all trying to make life more beautiful. I believe it’s something God places inside of us,  the desire to create, to make things beautiful. And whether that’s a song that is composed or a cozy living room that has been designed, beauty is revealed.  As we do our best to bring our own unique slice of beauty to this world we are reminded that the most beautiful act ever performed was by God. The act of sending his own son to this world to die on a cross for our sins, is by far the most amazing example of a physical act becoming spiritual.  There’s nothing that compares with the beauty of his blood stained hands that were nailed to the old rugged cross.

Love produces beauty, it always will.