Embrace the Upside

A little child kissing the grandparent he‘s missed seeing for months. A faithful canine companion alerts a passing car of his master who collapsed in distress. Servicemen and women wrapped in the arms of their joyfully, reunited family. In a serious court trial, a judge finds a humorous “cat filter” covering his face on a Zoom conference call.

Stories that touch our souls, lift our spirits, and make us laugh. Beauty and hope are always available, even in the most difficult of times, if we will only look around us. Anne Frank, a young girl imprisoned with her family during the Holocaust for hiding Jews from the Nazis writes in her journal, “Think of all the beauty still left around you and be happy…I don’t think of all the misery, but of the beauty that still remains.”

We can find beauty in the constant things of life when times are tough. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe writes, ““A man should hear a little music, read a little poetry, and see a fine picture every day of his life, in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul.”

As you seek to live Your Refreshed Life, there is something else even more meaningful you can do every day. You can choose to carve out time to spend focused on the beauty of God. We read in the Psalms,

“One thing I have asked of the Lord, and that I will seek:
That I may dwell in the house of the Lord [in His presence] all the days of my life,
To gaze upon the beauty [the delightful loveliness and majestic grandeur] of the Lord
And to meditate in His temple.” (Psalm 27:4 Amplified)

God’s Word tells us that our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit, so as we meditate, we grow in our experience with Him. As we focus on His character qualities, our character changes. We begin to see with His eyes and feel with His heart. And we become more beautiful every day. Sam Levenson offers wonderful advice for growing in beauty,

“For attractive lips, speak words of kindness.
For lovely eyes, seek out the good in people.
For a slim figure, share your food with the hungry.
For beautiful hair, let a child run his fingers through it once a day.
For poise, walk with the knowledge you’ll never walk alone.”

You never will walk alone because God is with you always. Let’s walk this journey together growing in His beauty each day!