"Ideals and the desire for beauty are simply the echoes of God's design in our hearts. He was the one who designed the world to be a masterpiece of wonder and life. The yearning for peace, health, and comfort is natural to our souls and comes from the depths of our hearts where we can still feel and imagine what God created life to be before the fall." The Mom Walk p. 58
As women and as mothers, we long to follow this design and make masterpieces out of the everyday things in our lives. We sometimes forget that masterpieces are the work of a lifetime. When the real world comes crashing in on us, we can quickly become overwhelmed. And yet it is important for us to persevere and create beauty in our world. When we give up, we are submitting to the darkness that surrounds us. Even lighting a candle will influence our surroundings and bring soothing comfort to our souls. The dancing flicker of light gives hope that we are making a difference in this dark world. A couple of passages that remind us of God's design in our hearts are the first chapter of Genesis and I Corinthians 6:20. I find that these Scriptures offer great encouragement when I need the strength to continue putting one foot in front of the other.
In reading Genesis 1, what words did God use at the end of days 1-5? What did he create on day 6? How did he summarize all of creation? How can making the effort to bring beauty into your home be a fulfillment of the command to subdue the earth? What is one thing you can do today to make your home more beautiful? More peaceful? It can be as simple as picking a few dandelions (or flowers, if you do not have deer eating your precious garden) and putting them in a vase. Let your children gather a bouquet for you. They will love picking flowers for Mommy.
Although I Corinthians 6:20 does not specifically use the word beauty, how does making your home beautiful and peaceful glorify God? How can you glorify God as a mom today? God sees your spirit as beautiful, of great worth. Knowing you are beautiful in his eyes, how does that make you feel? How does that influence your idea of beauty?
As you look into the eyes of each of your children, pray that the Lord will help you see the masterpiece he is creating in them. I pray God's beauty will permeate your life today!