Skip to main content

Going after beauty on the journey.

Beauty.

Two branches in full bloom. Different, yet the same. Flowers. Fragrance. Sweetness in the midst of darkness.

One a clock in the night in Fortaleza, Brazil. Walking along the streets in their “Red Light District”. Arrested by the beautiful fragrance in a place with so much stench. A dark street carrying a treasure.

Ten in the evening in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Visiting women on display in windows. Distracted by beauty and fragrance of a simple flower. Stopping to take it in.

Places so incredibly different, yet so much alike.

And in the midst of the fragrance I am reminded that the women are also treasures waiting to be found. Yet they were never lost by God who always sees them.

Reminded to seek after beauty and not gaze on darkness.

Transition. I’m in the midst of it and I wonder how to define it. I guess part is remembering. Remembering what has been. Processing. Thanking Him for what has passed. Remembering so that it can be released and I can step forward without the “was” holding me back and slowing me down.

Transition. I had a good week and a bit in Norway. Thankful for time with friends and family. Thankful for the beauty. Sometimes my eyes need a detox. A detox from being surrounded by everything that makes up a Red Light District that invades your sight even when you’re not looking. Norway is a good detox place with such incredibly beauty everywhere.

Beautiful beach. Walking along the beach and being reminded of huge God and little me. Reminded of the Creator who thought to put a boundary for the waves so that they wouldn’t flood the land. Reminded of a loving God whose thoughts are more numerous than the grains of the sand I am walking on. And He thinks about me. And He thinks about those I carry in my heart.

Beauty that brings delight. Beauty that refreshes the heart.

Arriving back in Kansas City. Desiring to “gaze on beauty”. Looking for beauty; beauty around me. Looking for the beauty of God. Longing to see it and let my heart become in awe of the One who is the most beautiful.

And so transition, which by definition is an in between state, becomes a leg of the journey, a bridge. And on this leg of the journey there is also purpose. There is an invitation to not look ahead for what is to come, but rather be fully in the now. Being intentional in taking in all that is available right now and living today. Remembering that at the end of the day it’s not about the destination but about the journey.

A journey seeking for beauty along the way.

Popular posts from this blog

Getting to know the local culture.

Life is a strange thing. Last week went…not much happened, and then it was over. The weekend was quite calm without too many wild and exciting things happening. Except, of course, a wee outing to watch the National Championship for Veteran Ploughing. Now, like me, you might be sadly lacking an understanding of what this actually means. So I am delighted to be able to enlighten you in this respect. It’s basically (for the “farm-language-illiterate” like myself) a competition where you use old (hence the name “veteran”) tractors and ploughs, and plough up a stretch of field which is then evaluated and the one scoring the highest sum (accuracy, depth, how well the soil is turned is all given points) wins. I must admit that this information I got by eavesdropping on a conversation next to me where a man was explaining to some of my friends how it all works. So that was a fun adventure….although we only stayed for a bit. What is sort of occupying my mind at present is my upcoming travel abr...
Read more

Tuesday children's prayer | Handing out shoes and feeding toddlers.

No day is the same here. After getting up early (which seems to be what I do here), and eating breakfast which was bread with butter (accompanied by an amazing cup of coffee given me by an American friend), I headed to the prayer room for children's prayer. This is a prayer time where the children come voluntarily to pray before school on Tuesdays and Fridays. Entering the room I was so impressed by how it was full of children eager to pray. There were probably 60 or 70 children there, and it was amazing to see one after the other choose to pray for their families and people who are sick, and other subjects on their little hearts. It was so great and an experience that I will carry with me for a long time. After prayer it was "Shoprite" time, which meant piling into a bus with other visitors and missionaries for the weekly shopping trip. I didn't quite know what to expect, but I had a few items to buy and hoped it would be a stress-free experience. As we drove along ...
Read more

What was your dream?- scraping the surface of the heart of Albania

“What was your dream when you were 20?” That was a question our guide asked us as we were standing outside a huge derelict cement monument in Tirana, the capital of Albania. We’d spent the day touring and hearing a lot about the history and journey of Albania, a young country with more Albanians living in other countries than in Albania itself. A country where tourism has only really been built up the past 30 years. It was eye opening to hear more of the history, and it made me realise that this country is so much more than meets the eye. A country where the beaches and tourist area of Durres Riviera was packed with tourists, mostly from the Balcan area. A country where hospitality is ingrained in the culture, and where the friendliness of the people was noticeable. After a pause to let us reflect over the question of dreams, for some thinking further back than others, our guide told us that for him it had been to own a pair of jeans. That simple fact said so much. Both of what he...
Read more