A few days ago, I attended the traditional RUF Women’s Tea Party, and each year the ladies are asked to bring something that we find to be beautiful. As we were sharing our beautiful things, our campus minister’s wife, Wendy, reminded us to seek beauty in the ordinary and mundane things.
I have many days where I feel I can find beauty so easily, but I have many days where this seems impossible. Some days, I can barely hold myself up because I’m thinking about my endless to-do list and the crazy things that are happening around me. Some days, I simply do not care.
As I think about this, my mind keeps wandering back to Ecclesiastes 3:11, “He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.” I love this verse because it reminds me of how God has created so much beauty in the world and has declared it to be good.
I am encouraged by the fact that God reveals His beauty to us in the simplest ways, including walks in the park, a beautiful sunset, or a meaningful hug from a dear friend. I tend to see His beauty by being outside in His creation. Ever since I was a little girl, I have enjoyed walks at Radnor Lake. I find those walks to be so restorative and nourishing for my soul, and they allow me to think and pray for long moments.
On the days where I find it nearly impossible to find beauty, I want to remember these truths:
- There is beauty even in the discomfort of life.
When it seems impossible to find, I know there is something beautiful in the middle of a storm and when I cannot understand His ways.
- The ordinary can be the most extraordinary.
The simplest things can be so extraordinary and reveal so much beauty in themselves, such as a meaningful conversation, a delicious cup of coffee, and sitting in a boat on the lake.
- God’s love story of redemption is the most beautiful story.
His story of redemption paints the most beautiful picture of His deep and steadfast love.
Our world is so dark and sinful, and it can be difficult to see beauty when it feels like the chaos and tragedy of the world will never end. Sometimes it feels like there is only darkness.
I am challenging myself to go out and search for beauty-filled parts of His story in the hard and ordinary things even when it feels like the storms keep coming.
Join me as we walk together to seek His beauty in the most ordinary.
Question: What is something that you find to be beautiful and meaningful? How has this shaped your view of beauty?
Life with Anna Pollard 