Seeking Beauty in an Ugly World: My prayers

I spent some time with the news on today as I was working on curriculum. Primarily, I learned about a mass murderer, a baby who was kept in a box under a bed (although she ended up being saved, Praise God!), the horrible attack on Fort Hood, Texas and a lot of information about a health care plan that it seems many in our nation oppose. I had to stop and pray over my own heart! This is the world we live in. I looked over at John Paul and immediately praised God that he was sitting next to me, healthy and happy.  I said a prayer for Darrell and Ally that God would protect them!
I don't think never watching or listening to the news is the answer. I tried that a while back and found that it didn't really help. I eventually heard about it all from one source or another. So, what is the answer? How do we find beauty in such an ugly world?


As I try to do with conundrums in my life, I turned to Scripture. Immediately, I thought of Philippians 4:8 - 

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, 

whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

And I prayed: Heavenly Father, lead me to Your beauty, place a desire in my heart for what is noble and right, help me to long to be pure and reveal all that You have created that is lovely. Let me think upon these things, as Your Word commands, and help me to not be overcome by the ugliness of this world!

Another verse that the Lord allowed me to recall is Romans 12:2

Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

And I prayed: Gracious Lord, transform and renew my mind and my heart. Do not let me succumb to the fear and evilness of this world. Reveal Your good and perfect Will for my life.

How could you ever question God perfect will for our lives? 

He who so lovingly designed not only a beautiful but perfectly balanced atmosphere?

And yet another verse from Romans 8:15,

For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, 

but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, "Abba, Father."

And I prayed: I do cry out to you, Abba, Father, to remind me of the Spirit you have instilled in me...a spirit of love and not of fear, no matter what is happening in the external world around me.

And finally, 1 Corinthians 2:12

We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, 

that we may understand what God has freely given us.

And I prayed: Thank you, God, for Your Holy Spirit, freely given by You. Help me to remember that I do not have a Spirit of the world and that this world is temporary, unlike your heavenly realm that I have been adopted into. 

Fear became compassion, uncomfortableness became hope, concern became confidence...not in myself or anything that I can do about this world, but in my Lord and Savior who works through me and is always with me in this dark world. 

May your day be filled with all of the beauty of the Lord!


Many thanks to my sweet husband, Darrell, for taking these pictures for my blog. I love you!

In Him,

The Quiet

I love the peacefulness of my home today. My son is sitting on the couch next to me working on school. He likes to tap, drum, etc as he works...he says it helps him think. But today, even he is quiet. Hope he's thinking!  My husband, Darrell, had some errands to run and other than my keyboard clicking, there's not much noise. We live next to Darrell's family and a few minutes ago, I heard Aunt Edna calling out to someone. My dog barked once about a half hour ago...probably some small sound noise disturbed his sleep. Occasionally a car goes by. But really, it's just peaceful. Praise God for peace. Praise Him for the times when my mind isn't racing with the million item list and my phone isn't ringing demandingly. Praise Him for the fact that televisions have an "off" button and children sometimes slow down long enough to enjoy the peace with you! Praise God for sending the Prince of Peace, our Lord and Savior. May your day be filled with the peace and beauty of Christ. 

You know the message God sent to the people of Israel, telling the good news of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all.

Acts 10:36

Spiritual Pictures

Recently, I have become attached to photos. I think I am just extremely content in my life for the first time in a long time and I don't want to forget what that contentment looks like. For example, the photo that is in the heading on my blog is valued by me for a couple of reasons: 1. my son, John Paul, took the photo and 2. it's a photo from my backyard dock. The flower right above this post is one of the first photos taken by my husband, Darrell, with a new camera. I love all of the aspects of that flower...the vibrant color, the way it's so up close and the fact that it was growing in my front yard. Look to the right and you'll find a photo of my son with our dog. Again, the simple joys of a life of peace. God is so good!


So as I was discovering my desire to document my life, I began to think about spiritual pictures. If God were taking photos of my life, what would He see? I immediately think of those photos I would never want to be shown...times when I'm angry or when I say something thoughtless. But it goes deeper than that. God knows my heart. 

God, who knows the heart, showed that he accepted them by giving the Holy Spirit to them, just as he did to us.

Acts 15:8

What pictures are revealed to God in my heart? My joys and triumphs over sin, my sorrow and pain of letting Him and those I love down at times. God sees all of the pictures of my life and as I write this I realize that I want to be very careful about the pictures I produce for Him. I want to be that woman who treasures God's opinion above all others.