Blessings - Part I

Listening to Sara Groves' song tonight, "Why It Matters", I am reminded of how important it is that we find ways to bring beauty to one another's lives.

At the end of a trying, tiring week, her song is like "a single cup of water" to my parched soul.  It's not only her music that has this effect on me either.  When my son brought home a sweet, homemade Father's Day card for me from Vacation Bible School today, it had a similar effect on me.  For a few precious moments, my heart was lifted as I took a moment to embrace him for such a beautiful gift.

Blessings like these can get us through an everyday frustration, a difficult period, or catastrophic event.  When I feel the effect that things like this have on me, I can't help but believe that God made us this way...to enjoy the beauty we encounter and to find refreshment, rest, and healing in it.  And, it's not just the beauty of the thing itself, it's the beauty of the person behind it that is most important to us.  It's the time that someone invests, the care they take, the compassion they show in brightening our lives and making them better.  God breathes on us through them.

We all have a need for beauty in our lives; a heartfelt song, card, poem, painting, or floral arrangement can make all the difference.  If we take the time to take notice, we can receive a blessing beyond all reason and comprehension.  What a tragedy it is to have that blessing in front of us and miss it.

I thank God for Sara Groves and for so many other artists that have generously given their time and talents to be a blessing to the rest of us.