I Love, Love, Love Beauty!

Hi, Im Christine.  I have an amazing husband named Cameron and we're in love. :)  Thats about all you need to know about that.  

So honestly, when I was asked to write a blog for this site I got super excited.  Yet, I also felt this tension in  my heart because I was told:  "Write about whatever you want to write about; what you're passionate about."  Well I feel like I'm passionate about so many things.  How do you write a blog post about so many things?  As I thought about it, all of them came down to the goodness of God and beauty.  I love, love, love beauty.  I feel like I'm constantly seeking it out.  The problem is, there are so many things that are beautiful.  So many things that make my heart come alive and know Abba's love for me.  I guess I just want to know the fullness of that love. Its hard for me to pick just one when I've been given abundance! 

However, this happens a lot with me.  I get so overwhelmed by my options that I just can't pick something.  However, I believe beauty is all around us.  Beckoning us to something much larger than ourselves.  Drawing us, pursuing us close to our Father's arms, into who He really is and who we really are.  Beauty stills the craziness in our life and quiets the chaos.  It just screams in the most quiet way, "Come away and see who you really are. Come eat of what is before you - let go and intake. Let me sweep you away from your busy life and reveal the wonder of who I am and what’s before you." 

Here is an example.  There was one morning I woke up and made breakfast and coffee, and as I sat down to eat, I looked over in our living room. The light poured in and made these beautiful rays of light coming through the window.  My heart was captivated.  I went over and sat down in it.  Forget food, and coffee (which is big for me! I love it so much).  What came from that time was a poem.  I HAD to write about it.  I had to capture it.  The only thing I had were my words.  I felt like John on Patmos.  Words sometimes just don't do it justice.  I can't even begin to imagine all the beauty he saw.  My God!  Literally.  The funny thing is it means letting go of your plans, which is and has been hard for me.  Isn't that what love is though?  Receiving?  Being received by a Father who is always seeking after His children?  Who closed in the gap to be one with us?  To sweep us into a story that is greater than our own?  A wonder and beauty larger than what we can see in our own strength?  This adventure that ignites our soul and knows where we belong, and ultimately on our way Home?  I guess the question has been what have I been in love with that is less wild than His love and beauty that beckons me into intimacy?  I’m always so surprised by how beautiful He is, over and over and over.  There is no end to it.  It surrounds us. The beauty of His love over us, His pursuit over us!  What?!  HE pursues ME?  Like a husband pursues a wife.  It just blows me away that He is that jealous for my heart and has that much love for me. That He would send Jesus to take away anything in the way, remove any hindrance so I could come Home.  Which brings me to another thing about beauty; how it reveals the more. The heavenly homeland.  The heart of our Father.  The beyond.  It actually fosters hope for Him returning.  It reminds us "there is more! SO much more!" 

Another story: So when I went bike riding with my family in this beautiful place called Dogwood Canyon in Missouri, I was flipping out because of how many waterfalls there were.   As I sat down by one I took out my journal and started writing.  I began to see how this is just a small glimpse of where I truly belong.  My heart almost JUMPED out of my skin! (I'm glad it didn't.).  I felt so alive and excited!  I can only imagine, but what I think of is like what babies feel in the womb when they hear the voice of their mother and father singing over them or something...they like kick and jump.  That place was just so beautiful and reminded me of where I am going and the heart of the one who carries me!  Beauty calls us and challenges us.  Beauty takes so many forms and cannot be limited.  Beauty is everywhere, depending on what you pay attention to.  It can be to the smallest flower beneath your feet to the homeless man on the street. ( And I'm a poet who didn't know it.)  It’ s literally anywhere and in anything if you're willing to see it.  What I've noticed for me in this is letting go of the things I can't control to embrace the table of beauty set before me, that is apart of who I am, and eat.  I never really had control anyway, but I can come to the one who does.  Beauty reminds me of who my Father is and who I really am and tells me: "Its ok. You're in good, good hands."  Its my Father whispering, "Come away with Me.  Sit and eat in the abundance I've given."

Written by Christine, Oklahoma City, OK