Bless You!

I am convinced more and more each day of the fact that God loves beauty, and truly beautiful things bless God. God uses beauty to bless us. We bless God by expressing our gifts through beauty. Beauty and God just go together.

I am absolutely certain that chaos itself does not produce beauty. If you are unsure of this, come see my house. (I did a little experiment on the issue and went and had four kids) However, I do think we can find beauty in the chaos.

There are days that I can't provide beauty for my family. There are times that in trying to make something beautiful, I make more of a mess. (not beautiful)

I was overly tired and crampy when the meltdown began last weekend. I was being a selfish brat. I was spent and then some. And that's when I said, "I hate this house!" (opposite of beautiful)

There are a lot of reasons why I said that. Looking back, I realize the majority of the last ten years I have spent hating this house. I seldom can muster up thanksgiving for it, even when I see pictures of people in their grass huts. Some days I think I might prefer a grass hut.

But the problem is that my family and I live in this house, and I love my family. I want them to live in a blessed house, not a cursed one.

I got some sleep. I prayed a lot.

With a refreshed spirit, I stepped outside this morning and blurted out loud, "Bless this house."

I kinda shocked myself, then smiled, took a deep breath, and listed to the birds in the cool(er) morning air. I was suddenly joyful.

Doesn't attitude make a world of difference?

I was also reminded of how important it is to bless my family with my words. Words are beautiful, too.

Now, I had fantastic parents that love me very much, so please don't get me wrong. But many of my childhood memories lack spoken blessings. I was surrounded by complainers and those that compare,  and gossipers -at some point or another. I think that I am still seeing the effects of those words. I don't believe compliments easily. I have a hard time receiving other people's blessings. Words killed my hope. Thank God for His redemption.

So, even on the days that I cannot provide physical beauty for my family, on the days that I have loads of laundry to fold, nasty toilets, burnt up flowers in the yard, and I serve frozen pizza while I still have pajamas on, I can speak blessings over my family. This kind of beauty may just produce more beauty... and continue for the rest of their lives. It's like planting seeds of goodness.

And I probably shouldn't stop in my own house. People need to be encouraged.

Fill your home with beautiful words.