Make Beauty

October 3, 2014October 3, 2014 by theseordinarygraces In Grace, Write 31 Days 5 Comments

My sweet little six year old girl,

I’m writing to you as if you’ll read this in 20 years. Even though the computer I’m writing this on will probably be obsolete by then and we’ll all have a tiny computer embedded in our brains. Well, except the old folks. So I’ll probably still have a computer.

Honey, you have no idea how much I love you. You bring a smile to my face with each story you imagine, each creepy picture you draw. I’m not even kidding. You once drew a picture of paralyzed chickens. It was hysterical, but it made me glad I homeschool you. You draw these types of things all the time and I have a hunch you’d be sent to a therapist if we sent you to public school.

You warm my heart with each hug and kiss, each offer to help. You have such a heart for others and for serving. I’ve actually found myself having to make a conscious effort to let you help me, find things for you to do to nurture your desire to help. The last thing I want to do is squelch that desire.

Since you’re reading this in 20 years, you’re 26. Maybe. Just an estimate. By now you’ve figured out the world is a hard place. People are hurting, sick, starving, dying, fighting. People can be mean, selfish, rude, and ignorant.

But, honey, please keep your eyes open for the beauty and wonder in this world, too. Look for the beauty in nature. You’ve experienced both the salty sea air in the south and the soaring mountain tops of Alaska. The blistering heat of a midwestern August and the bone-chilling cold of an Alaskan winter. Look for the beauty in people. Those who give everything they own to care for sick and orphaned children. Those who go out of their way to help someone in need. Those who work tirelessly to find cures for devastating diseases. They are all beautiful.

There’s beauty in the mom who stays home in her sweats to care for her children. There’s beauty in the mom in a tailored suit working to feed her family, or even to just fulfill her own dreams. They are both beautiful.

There’s beauty in the thousands of different cultures around the world and there’s beauty in the culture you grew up in.

And above all, watch with glittering eyes

the world around you because the greatest secrets

are always hidden in the most unlikely places.

Those who don’t believe in magic will never find it.

-Roald Dahl

Find the beauty and make your own.