Beauty

Don't ask me why blogger put this big gap here, I can't get rid of it - grrr! Annoyed - will be happy to move to Wordpress ASAP - new site coming soon!

Years ago I was watching Oprah as my six-year old son played nearby. She had a few teens on her show and was asking them questions about beauty and brains. One question was which they would prefer - beauty or brains - if they could only have one of them.

I don't remember the outcome of her question, but I asked my son the question. (hey, six is close to being a teen) He promptly declared, "Brains!"

I learn from odd moments and that was a turning point for me, I've tried to live more concerned about brains than beauty ever since. I don't remember if Oprah defined what she meant by brains, but in this scenario, I thought of brains as wisdom and I would rather seek soul-deep wisdom than skin-deep beauty.

But it isn't totally an 'either-or' thing. Wisdom tells us there are some things we are responsible for concerning our own beauty - or lack thereof.
Wisdom helps me see that what makes a person beautiful has more to do with attitude than looks. 

Having said that - wisdom also helps me know that I have choices about certain aspects of my looks ... 

      *what my hair looks like

      *how old a sweatshirt I wear

      *what my weight is

      *my facial expressions

I only responsible to do the best I can - the best I can, not what supermodels do and/or look like. (can you say airbrushing!) My best is what's best for me and my health - am I eating foods that nourish me or just give me empty calories? Am I moving enough - because what I don't use, I lose.  

By preferring wisdom over beauty, I've been able to avoid major struggles with the whole beauty thing and I thank God for that. Lord knows, I have enough other problems to deal with (another post, another day ;) 

So as for beauty - focus on wisdom more, but know that we are responsible for some aspects of our own beauty, but life's too short to allow things we can't control to ruin our days.

These are some of my thoughts on beauty - Sarah Markley has encouraged her readers to write posts about beauty, so click on the button below to read more.

Peace and Beauty - 12 Days of Community

Peace - Beauty

At first, I found it odd, but now it makes sense to me. I've found that if I'm missing either peace or beauty in my life, I'm probably missing both. And if I look for one, I usually find both. They seem to live close together.

 View from a bench at French Creek State Park -

a favorite place of peace and beauty for me.

There's many places I find peace and beauty if I am intentional. Outdoors in creation is my first choice - trees, plants, water, along with the moon and stars.  There's beauty/peace in words, art, music and delicious food. 

It helps to be intentional as I go through life, taking deep breaths and allowing myself time to think about what my five senses are absorbing. (I figure there is a reason I've been created with five senses and I try not to waste any of them)  And whether I see the beauty of the moment first or peace comes over me first - the other soon follows. 

Peace and beauty - I need both to be fully alive and thankfully I usually find them together.

Recently I found both in a new place - online at 

Just ... a Moment a blog by S. Etole.

S. Etole combines words with beautiful photos and whenever I visit her site, I come away breathing lighter. Thank you S. Etole - for the way you brighten my world with peace and beauty. 

Celebrating Just ... a Moment today in the 12 days of Christmas Community hosted by High Calling Blog.

Click the box below to find out more about celebrating others this season ... 

Finding Hope

I walk slowly along the edge of the Chesapeake Bay when the tide and my energy level are at their lowest. The desire to spend a day seeking God led to the decision to fast lunch and spend a few hours in quiet reflection. Now at three in the afternoon, I'm tired, hungry and want a nap. My spirit wants to connect with my creator in some meaningful way, but I have trouble convincing the rest of myself to cooperate.

At high tide, you can't walk along this particular area of the bay, but now at low tide there are a few feet of waterlogged sand exposed. Starting with the first step, my sneakers sink too low in the spongy sand. The air has the unpleasant scent of a swamp - the decay of plants, insects and fish, along with pockets of stale water here and there. The gnats are being their normal annoying selves and as they flit from plant to plant, they continuously bump into me.

My walk is slow and careful, as I step over all the creepy, crawly insects on the ground. I pause a second after stepping over a dead praying mantis. I realize that though I had seen many praying mantises over the years, I have never seen a dead one. Guess they have to die also, I reason to myself.

The ugly, straggly branches of a greedy plant force me to walk out nearer to the water's edge as it inconsiderately covers my path in its reach for the water. As I do this, I step over a small puddle of water that apparently missed the receding flow of the tide. More loss, this time a crab lays there dead. My mind sluggishly talks to God about this, why is there so much loss and sadness? It is so hard to have these obstacles, I tell him. Why do I have to keep walking over and around them? This kind of feels like my life recently, sadness due to loss and conditions that hound me every step of the way. With a muddled mind and hot, humid air surrounding me, I am ready to end this depressing walk.

But - a stubborn speck of resolve pushes me on. I want to get through this - ‘this’ being both this walk and the unwanted circumstances in my life. So half-heartedly, I continue while brushing tears from my eyes and watching more dirty sand collect on my previously white sneakers.

I round a slight bend and abruptly stop in both my physical and mental walk. There is a burst of beauty and color. Wild plants ramble through each other in a beautiful unkempt way - bulrushes, iris, hibiscus and trumpet vine. Butterflies gracefully hurry here and there, looking for the sweetest nectar. A dragonfly from an attractive family line pauses briefly on a leaf directly in front of me. The stark colors of his delicate wings shimmer in the afternoon sunlight that reflects off the still waters of the bay.

A spot of dry sand nearby allows me to sit down and soak in the beauty of it. This beauty and creativity feeds the sad places in me and fills me with hope. Seeing this vibrant, beautiful life, I recognize the truth that even when walking on difficult paths, there is beauty somewhere. These specks of clarity bring about a calm, peaceful state of mind. I find comfort and strength and know that by seeking the one who made it all, I will come to places where I find beauty and hope.

Overflow

I walked along the edge of the Chesapeake Bay when the tide was at its lowest, along with my energy level. The desire to have a day to ‘be still’ had led to the decision to fast lunch and spend about five hours in quiet reflection at a friend’s vacation home. Now at three in the afternoon, I was tired, hungry and wanted a nap. My spirit desired to connect with my Creator in some meaningful way, but I had trouble convincing the rest of myself to focus.

At high tide, one cannot walk along this particular area of the bay, but at low tide there are a few feet of sand espoused. My sneakers sank too low in the spongy, water-logged sand and the air had the scent of a swamp. The gnats were having a party, flitting from plant to plant, as were other creepy, crawly insects along the ground. I continued my slow walk, carefully stepping over a dead praying mantis. I paused a second as I realized that though I had seen many praying mantis over the years, I had never seen a dead one. Guess they have to die also, I reasoned to myself. An over aggressive plant growing along the side forced me to walk out nearer to the waters’ edge as it greedily covered my path in its reach for the water. As I did this I had to step over a small puddle of water that apparently missed the flow of the tide. More death - this time a crab lay there expired.

My mind lazily talked to God about this, why is there so much death and sadness? Why do I have to be walking over it? This kind of feels like my life … walking through sadness recently, dealing with loss and being unsatisfied with my circumstances. At the same time a glimmer of expectation rose up within me and propelled me forward. I can get through this I reasoned ... ‘this’ being both this walk and the rough spots in my life.

I had to see what was beyond the slight bend up ahead. It looked like there was a patch of dry sand up there. More dirty sand collected on my previously white sneakers as I moved forward while brushing the insects from my neck.

As I rounded the bend, I was stopped in both my physical and mental walk. There was an area of wild plants rambling through each other in a beautiful unkempt way … bulrushes, iris, hibiscus and trumpet vine. Butterflies gracefully hurried here and there, looking for the sweetest nectar. A dragonfly from a good-looking family line paused briefly on a leaf directly in front of me. The stark colors of his delicate wings shimmered in the afternoon sunlight that reflected off the still waters of the bay. My spirit rejoiced at the beauty of it all.

Thank you God, for showing me that after walking on paths that are messy and hard with sadness along the way, there is an overabundance up ahead. Moving forward is what will bring me to a place where I will be overwhelmed with an overflow of colors, textures and beauty.

– Janet Oberholtzer, Monday, August 21, 2006