Three Steps to Beautiful

I — Look in mirror.
II — Smile.
III — Say the words: “Good morning, Gorgeous.”
IV — Repeat.

Come on. You know you want to.  Wouldn’t anything less be an insult to the Artist who made you?

{And if you can’t say it out loud yet, use lipstick.}

Hey Beautiful,

You are a masterpiece. In the God Gallery, you are the only one of you. The Master Artist has written in the corner of your canvas like this: 1/1. That’s right: no duplicates available.

*****

“The King is enthralled by your beauty.”
~ Psalm 45:11

*****

“Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don’t matter at all, because once you are Real you can’t be ugly, except to people who don’t understand.”
~ Margery Williams Bianco, The Velveteen Rabbit

Dedicated to the beautiful Megan Willome, a friend who helps others discover their real beauty, in the middle of their imperfections. Happy birthday, friend. Thank you for helping me see.

What Creativity Really Means

And this is how the day begins here every morning:

The girls and I drive down our snow-packed country lane at 5 miles per hour.

For one-third of a mile, I tarry along that stretch of gravel, steering between the creaking bones of undressed trees — all of them swaying under winter’s breath.

And the girls and I, we pray.

We talk to God about the things that trouble us, and the things that astound us. Over the years, we’ve prayed for loose teeth and lost cats; longer recesses and easier tests. We’ve prayed for new kids who sit alone at lunch, and old friends who seem to have forgotten we exist when birthday invitations go out.

We’ve prayed for broken hearts and mended friendships. We pray blessings on their days, and Light upon their paths. And we thank God for the big and the little miracles, sometimes with our tears.

And,  if there’s time before bus No. 44 crests that hill, the girls ask, “Mommy, can we pray for you?” As they get older, it happens more. They have begun to sense that there is blessing in praying over someone you love.

So they lay their little hands on my shoulders, and they lay tender words out like a silk ribbon of a song. They have a sixth-sense — a Spirit sense, I think — about what a mom needs.

They know, for instance, that I have half-dozen writing projects sitting on my desk, and that I don’t want to send any of those words out into the world until they are “just right.” And they also know that if I wait that long — until the words are perfect — that I’ll never let a single sentence fly from the nest.

My daughter Lydia — firstborn heiress to my DNA — prays the words over me. And her words … they floor me: “Dear God, help my mom realize that creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes.”

I don’t know where she heard it — art class, maybe? — but I’m undone.  A lump in my throat rises. I reach a hand up to my shoulder, and set it on top of hers.

And I choke out the words, “Amen.”

I pat her hand, and I whisper it … my Amen. 

(Photos of daughter, and her art…)

Posting also with Emily …

Have you stopped by for Wednesday’s God-Bumps & God-Incidences? Want to join the chorus of words for our God? Grab a button by clicking here, attach it to your post, then tell us your story. (Don’t forget to link up below.)

The Playfulness of God

Playful living comes ridiculously easy when you look like this:

It’s a cinch to laugh deep in moments like these: When you’re tripping over your flippered feet, and the snorkel masks transform your family into underwater bug-eyed invaders, and you each have a single antenna growing out of your head. It’s impossible to miss the playfulness of the world when you’re face-planted in the ocean, eyes wide to the wonder hidden below.

These are the moments when you realize that deeper intimacy with God
is right below the surface,
just around the corner,
and somewhere on the the other side of a to-do list.

Sure, we can imagine God as Comforter or Savior, as Healer or Protector. Perhaps we can even imagine crawling up on the Father’s lap, where He’ll wrap His strong arms around our weary spirits. But can we imagine God as playmate?  Can we imagine Him as the Father who tosses His child with joy into the air?

Yes, we can play with the Prince of Peace.  We can laugh with the Lion of Judah. We can explore the playfulness of God, even in the mundane days, long after the snorkels are packed away.

Deeper intimacy is found with the Father right here, on the playground of his creative world.

Marilyn Meberg wrote this week: “Pain is not God’s fault, but he created a solution anyway.” The solution, she says, is laughter.

Mark Roberts, in his Sunday devotion, wrote: “Work stands at the center of our purpose for living. But, God also created play.”

Maybe this is why children were always trying to get nearer to Jesus. God is not boring. 

Our world is a vast and magical playground of jumping dolphins, spray-blowing whales, frolicking baby deer. And just the other day, the neighbor’s pot-bellied pig, with his wrinkled nose, was peeking through my front window.

The Bible says to have a child-like faith. I’m only beginning to scratch the depths of what that might mean for me.

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Each week, my friend Laura Boggess hosts “Playdates with God” at her blog. She opens our eyes to a God of joy, of delight … and of playfulness. I join her on the journey this week.

When You See a Bit of Heaven

My one-way ticket tells me where I’m going, and I’ve got an internal GPS to help me get there.

But it all looks so fuzzy up ahead. And where is Heaven anyway?

Maybe the Good Lord knows my heart couldn’t handle it if He showed it all at once. So he gives us enchanting glimpses, in those delicious moments when invisible hands peel back the curtains of Heaven.

It happens quite by surprise, I think. It comes in a beautiful dream. Or when you look out your front window one morning to see that a million snowflakes magically gathered on the front step overnight. You steal otherwordly glimpses when you drive up over a hill, and on the crest, you can see for miles. And it feels like you’re flying, and you want to drive with the top down. In January.

We see then, even if only through a glass, darkly.

Heaven comes down in that sweet moment when you curl up next to your baby girl by lamplight, and you keep watch until she starts to exhale in measured, warm breaths. Just watching her sleep makes you feel more awake then you’ve felt all day.

And you pray right then, that the Lord might look with favor upon your girl with eyelashes resting on pink cheeks. You pray He might grant her one of those dreams — a private vision of what awaits. You pray for the grandest of dreams and the most enchanting of moments — treasures you can hold onto when the ugly rancor of the world closes in around you. It’s a beauty you can hold in your hand, even if only for a moment, before it melts away.

 
Writing in community with Lisa-Jo, who encourages us to write for Five Minutes on the topic she assigns. This week’s word: VIVID.

God-Bumps: I Am … Forgiven

Two girls.
Five paint brushes.
And 108 different answers to
One important question:

“In God’s Heart
I am . . . ?

We asked the question, and you answered.

The result?

One night of fun for the girls and I, painting life-changing truths on canvas.

God-Bumps?
Oh … yeah.

We are more than our mistakes and our missteps;
we are more than our problems or our pasts.

We … are …  HIS.

Here is our video, putting your words to the canvas.

Song: Forgiven by Sanctus Real

Words: These are your one-word answers to the question. You were kind enough to leave them here in the comment box, over at the Getting Down With Jesus Facebook page, and in emails. Thank you for your affirming words! We couldn’t fit them all into the video, so I let the girls choose which ones to paint. But we read all of them out loud!

Inspiration: Holley Gerth, who asked the question first.

Email subscribers: Can’t see the video? Click over here for a look.

GOD-BUMPS & GOD-INCIDENCES (Hosted here Each Wednesday)

Your turn, friends. What has God been up to in your life this week? What are some of the God-Things that make you go Hmmmm? Share your God-Bumps and God-incidences here.

Grab a button over here, add it to your story, then link up below. Then, pay a visit to someone who linked before you. They’ll be glad you did. And I’ll bet you’ll be glad, too.