Too Much Beauty?

The other day, we were driving around on some errand and I took a moment to really look at the beautiful barns, fields and forests of this beautiful upstate New York area.  Once again, it took my breath away.   But how often do I acknowledge or even get think about it?  Do I forget or does it become less beautiful?

When we are surrounded by beauty and blessings, we tend to get used to them, to take them for granted.  As I thought about this, I realized that perhaps this is one of the advantages of trials, deprivations, tribulations...it makes us appreciate the beauty and peace of what was "normal."

If we truly lived in beauty all the time, would we acknowledge it?  Would it take our breath away after the 100th morning of waking up to it?  Or would we take it for granted and still find ways to be discontent and ungrateful?

I do.

These thoughts sent my head spinning into new directions: how blessed my life is with healthy children, a husband that not only is faithful to me but honors and respects me, a roof over my head, food to eat, clean air to breathe, water to drink, friends who smile when they see me, fingers that work, hair that is thick and curly...yes!   It may seem crazy, but how many times do we miss the things that are beautiful in our life because we are so preoccupied with our expanding waistlines, our missing countertops, the unfinished floor, the arguing, our busy schedules,...the many things we don't have and think we should have?

What would we do with all that beauty, if we had truly beautiful, perfect lives all of the time?  Would we see it? Do we see it now? 

Maybe God really knows what He is doing when He saves beauty for the moments that matter most...or maybe He is waiting for us to acknowledge the beauty that he has already placed in our lives.  Hmmm...

...and sometimes the greatest beauty is found in the heart of a trial...

or in the heart of a friend's sorrow as you mourn together or grow together to a deeper level of friendship on the other side of a storm...