Seeking BEAUTY and JOY

The truth?  I've been feeling a little "blah" for some time now. 

With the move and remodel, the last couple of months have been overwhelming and the schedule has left little time for reflection.  I chalked the blue mood up to exhaustion, being spread too thin, and the overly long, dreary winter.  But, now that the pace is slowing down a bit, I have had a bit more time for my thoughts and sorting through them.

I had an "light bulb moment" this afternoon - an epiphany, of sorts.  It came to me that I have simply allowed the present circumstances to cloud my vision and make me loose focus. 

After a long afternoon spent at the desk, paying bills, updating dwindling checking accounts and making numerous phone calls to try to resolve a frustrating business situation, I wandered through the living room and my eyes fell upon a vase of pink tulips.  Eddie Dale picked up a couple of bunches of them at the store yesterday afternoon because we were having our first real guests for dinner at our new place.  Seeing the slant of the sun through the front windows, the delicate curve of the stems and the unfurling petals turned toward the light, I saw BEAUTY and found JOY.

BEAUTY and JOY...two things I have been overlooking for quite some time now.  It's not that they weren't there.  It's just that I wasn't looking for them.  And therein lay my problem.

I ran for the camera, excited to snap the images and preserve that moment. 

These photos are a reminder to me that there is BEAUTY all around me, even in the little things.  There is JOY there for me, also.  I have only to seek and recognize it...and then accept it.

Yes, the circumstances right now are trying.  Come Wednesday, I will not have a kitchen for at least 4-6 weeks.  I am unemployed, as is my husband.  My daughter is in the middle of difficult divorce and my heart is broken over this.  I have a bathroom vanity sitting in my guest bedroom and our backyard is nothing but red dirt and weeds right now.  Our garage is filled to the rafters with boxes and the project list is long.

But, I am so blessed to have a home, a wonderful husband, a supportive family close to me, wonderful friends who have shown up to help and made life here so much more fun....the list just goes on and on. 

Funny how these simple, but intricate, pink blooms made me realize that I have to look for the joy and not wait for it to knock me over the head.  And look how cheerful they are here in our living room. 

Have you ever just gotten so caught up in the day-to-day that you forgot to see what mattered?   I hope that you will slow down the pace a bit today and see the little unexpected things that God has placed in your path to bring you JOY.

Grace to You,

Jane