The things we find.

Deep breath.

There is beauty and joy to be found, even on the hardest of days. That’s the goal of this blog. To learn to create a rhythm of slowing down enough to find the beauty in the most mundane things around us.

It’s been a practice for me, not an entirely natural thing I confess. I find the most beauty in simple things like the things we find in nature. The things we find in our home that carry a good memory or funny anecdote. The things we find in a good conversation with a friend (those are a bit harder to paint though).

But sometimes, there are seasons we must walk through that require us to look a little deeper to find things worth holding on to and calling beautiful. The things of life become more challenging and we must dedicate more strength to find the things that bring joy. I write that openly and honestly from a body that was required to isolate for over two years due to a medically fragile family member, and from a mind that wanted to easily slip into the darkness during that season. I’ve also been through isolation over the years while our daughter was hospitalized. I had to learn to find the good and beautiful things in a limited space, a mundane space that repeated itself over and over again, day in and day out, which over time made me think there was not much beauty and joy left at times. But I also write, and paint, from a spirit that is filled with Jesus and thus He helps me to daily look for the good, look for the beauty in even the most mundane, ordinary days.

So let’s take the time, even often just one small minute, to look around us and see where the light is still falling on good and pleasant places, and give thanks to Him who holds all things together and makes everything beautiful in its time.