Pretty Things
Beauty is one of God's gracious gifts to man. It comes in many forms...in nature, it is a direct reflection of creation, when God saw that "it was good"; man, made in the likeness of God, is given the gift of creating beautiful things... from composing beauty in music to the plastic arts: painting, sculpting, architecture. Here are some of the pretty things that we have been blessed with:
We can always start with the sunrise each morning, thanking God for a new day. Friday morning, this was the sunrise over the ocean, as seen from our house.
Abbie was given this orchid a couple of years ago. As it was getting ready to bloom last year, a tiny bug bored into each bud in search of the sweet(?) sap (would it bother if the sap weren't sweet?), and not a single blossom opened. This year Abbie put some plant spray on the tender buds; whether that was what made the difference, or not, we don't know. We do know the plant is full of beautiful blossoms this year.
A Christmas Present
When I went to the Bible study at the prison for the first meeting after Christmas and New Year's, Mikhaylo ("Misha"), one of the three Ukrainian prisoners in the group handed me a rolled-up piece of poster board. It was a pen-and-ink drawing of Adam and Eve being expelled from the Garden of Eden by the angel of the Lord. I had it framed and it hangs in our living room, which is basically black-and-white in its decor. The drawing measures 45cm x 50cm (18" x 20"). The photo doesn't do justice to the fine detail of the drawing. I never imagined that Misha is an artist. He still has 2 or 3 years to serve, at least; of the 3 Ukrainians, he is the one who has the most difficulty in understanding and speaking Portuguese. Pray that in time he will come to comprehend what God's grace is all about. He already has a pretty good idea about how destructive sin is.
Although everything around us is not pretty, we thank God for the beauty we do see, and we know that one day, "all things will be made new."
We can always start with the sunrise each morning, thanking God for a new day. Friday morning, this was the sunrise over the ocean, as seen from our house.
Abbie was given this orchid a couple of years ago. As it was getting ready to bloom last year, a tiny bug bored into each bud in search of the sweet(?) sap (would it bother if the sap weren't sweet?), and not a single blossom opened. This year Abbie put some plant spray on the tender buds; whether that was what made the difference, or not, we don't know. We do know the plant is full of beautiful blossoms this year.
A Christmas Present
When I went to the Bible study at the prison for the first meeting after Christmas and New Year's, Mikhaylo ("Misha"), one of the three Ukrainian prisoners in the group handed me a rolled-up piece of poster board. It was a pen-and-ink drawing of Adam and Eve being expelled from the Garden of Eden by the angel of the Lord. I had it framed and it hangs in our living room, which is basically black-and-white in its decor. The drawing measures 45cm x 50cm (18" x 20"). The photo doesn't do justice to the fine detail of the drawing. I never imagined that Misha is an artist. He still has 2 or 3 years to serve, at least; of the 3 Ukrainians, he is the one who has the most difficulty in understanding and speaking Portuguese. Pray that in time he will come to comprehend what God's grace is all about. He already has a pretty good idea about how destructive sin is.
Although everything around us is not pretty, we thank God for the beauty we do see, and we know that one day, "all things will be made new."
posted by EP | 12:14 AM | Permalink
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