Look! Up in the air! It's a butterfly...

"God saw that it was good"

Genesis 1:21

I saw a butterfly today.  Yellow.  Fluttering past the garage while the kids and I were out front.

But then it landed, and I realized it wasn't a butterfly at all.  It was a leaf.  A lovely yellow leaf.

I'm not sure why there were leaves coming off our tree.  After all, it's Spring, not Autumn.  But I have a vague recollection of it happening last year, too. Maybe the hot spell we got (which we get every year at this time) killed off a few leaves, and then a couple of windy days loosened them.

Now please understand, a fluttering leaf is lovely, all on its own.  But I was sort of entranced with it when I thought it was a butterfly.  I think simply because there are more leaves than butterflies in the world, so it's more of a treat.

But here's the thing:  I saw something beautiful today.  I mean, what I was seeing was something sort of regular, but in my eyes it was lovely.  I perceived it as lovely.

What do you see when you look at something regular?  Something "everyday"?  Are you enchanted by a butterfly, and then when you realize it's a leaf, do you appreciate the gorgeous yellow of that leaf? 

I was reading something recently, that pointed out that pioneer women brought china cups into the wilderness.  I love that.  I love that they wanted beauty, wherever they were going.  And that they made sure of it, instead of thinking, "Why bother?"

But there's also an admirable, strong hope in that.  Hope despite not knowing what lay ahead.  There is magnificence in the midst of every difficult, frustrating, or painful circumstance, but you have to have eyes to see it.  Is the glass half-empty or half-full?  Is that a leaf or a butterfly? 

And if you're headed into the wilderness, remember that you just might need to bring the beauty with you.  

~ "Honor and majesty are before Him;

      Strength and beauty are in His sanctuary." ~

Psalm 96:6

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