beautiful

Lately I am struck with all of the beauty around me. The sunset that I can see from my window, the mountains that are visible, just their silouette on the far edge of the horizon. I notice the beauty in a pregnant woman's eyes, like she knows a secret that no one else does... like the mona lisa.

Sometimes the simplest things are beautiful. My husband's hands, calloused from spending the day making money for us; the old Lady walking around the market, every line in her face a precious reminder of the wisdom that she holds in her heart. There is so much around us that is beautiful.

And out of all this beauty, I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

More beautiful than the sunset that streaks across the sky in blazing shards of orange, burgundy, sage, gold, and dark blue. Mor beautiful than the delicate petals of the rose that Travis brought home for me, to sit, just because it is so perfect, on my table for a while. More beautiful than the wide expanse of land that I can see from my window, the light gold wheat swaying in the wind. More beautiful than the rainbow that dashes across the sky, reminding us that God isn't going to give up on us.

I am fearfully and wonderfully made. I am made by God. Not Leanardo DaVince, not Michelangelo, not Picasso... God. His works speak of the kind of artist that he is.

I am made in his very image.

He is refining me, like gold, like a diamond. I am becoming more beautiful every day.

Not because I try. Not because I wake up and put on makeup and do my hair. No. My beauty is something that is deep, rich, a secret that I carry within me, a smile on my lips. My beauty is not tarnishable. It is a quiet heart, it is a grain of faith, it is love in my eyes.

In the eyes of God, I am beautiful.

This should be every woman's song, the song that she sings in her heart.