Pretty ugly!


The highest and most beautiful things in life are not to be heard about, nor read about, 
nor seen but, if one will, are to be lived.
--Soren Kierkegaard

Pretty ugly.

Last summer, I found this amazing Christmas sweater on clearance. It was $7. It’s green and has trees and snowflakes and so much more. After I got it home, I saw a couple of places where the knitting had come unstitched, so I went to the local craft store and picked up some appliqués to hide the holes, thus making my special sweater even more special!

It’s pretty ugly. It really is.

When I wore it recently, someone I care deeply about told me, seriously, how much they really liked the sweater. It was so colorful, and happy—and that cat appliqué made it just perfect. They went away smiling, and so did I.

Life can be like that.

Someone, or some thing that looks ordinary, at best (or ugly, at worst), through a different lens takes on unexpected beauty. We laugh at warthogs and cuttlefish, shaking our heads and wondering what God was thinking. They’re just weird! But to another warthog, or another cuttlefish, they are absolute perfection.

Look around. Let your eye rest on something you might normally just walk right on by.

Look again. Look through God’s eyes. Rest in the knowledge that God sees you that way, too. Amen.


Monday In today’s world, we remember the stories of Jesus’ birth by reading them again. Imagine not having the written word. What story would you learn to tell every year to your children or grandchildren? Isaiah 35:1-4

Tuesday Stop and consider someone to whom you are a light that shines. Today is a good day for a random act of kindness. (So is tomorrow!) Psalm 146:5-10

Wednesday Stand before a mirror and remind yourself to whom you belong. Listen for the whisper in your heart, reminding you that you are God’s highly favored one.
Luke 1:46-49
Thursday God’s euangelion, or good news, came to those in life’s margins, the poverty pockets of Jerusalem. Where do you see God’s hand at work in your community? Isaiah 35:5-10

Friday Think today about how you pray-- not the words, but your attitude. Try something a little different. Consider journaling the experience. Luke 1:50-55

Saturday As we draw closer to Christmas, life can become even more hectic. Pause. Do nothing. Rest. Allow the joy to return to your spirit. James 5:7-10

Sunday We have a tremendously gifted musical team! Thank God for their talents and willingness to share, not for their own glory, but to the glory of God. Psalm 150

Beauty is truth, truth, beauty. That is all ye know on earth,
and all ye need to know. –John Keats

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