Beauty Begins With God



What does it look like to find beauty in everyday?

I've been asking myself that question a lot lately. That's what this blog is technically about, but what does "finding beauty" really look like in every day life?

Asking myself that question led me to question my blog's design, purpose, focus, and even the name. What is this blog really "About"?

When I chose the subtitle on March 28th, 2011, I wrote:

Ever since I got serious about blogging last summer, I have struggled to come up with a tag line, a pitch, a subtitle type phrase for this blog. I write about a such wide variety of things. This blog has changed from being a place for me to keep a record of events and keep up with my family, to a place to meet new friends, learn, grow, encourage, and reach out to make a difference. But I still write about my goings-ons and share craft projects and the occasional recipe.

For awhile I came up with "Encouraging and challenging women to fulfill God's purpose for their lives." It's a good purpose, but I didn't feel like it fit with everything I posted, and it was really long, and hard to fit on the header.

This tag line came to me as I was reading One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp. I wish I could quote to you the exact moment when I it came to me, but I'm letting my sister borrow the book right now so I don't have it handy. However, Captivating: Unveiling the Mystery of a Woman's Soul by John and Staci Eldredge discusses at length why beauty matters. Beauty speaks to us about who God is. Beauty says all will be well and gives our souls rest. Beauty invites, captures, and draws the viewer in. God has given us a desire for beauty, because He is beautiful. Beauty comforts and beauty inspires.

But in a life filled with difficult, hard, painful, and ugly things, we have to find beauty. We have to look for it intentionally. Where? In everyday. In the midst of the stress, the pain, the loneliness, the joys, and the blessings.



Beauty matters because it points us directly to the Author of beauty. 

We can "find" beauty by looking around us and being truly grateful for all the gifts from the Author of beauty.

But on some level, the Author of beauty has imprinted each of us with His image, so that we too long to create beauty. 



When DaySpring sent me the Outdoor Chalk Board and Outdoor Metal Yard Sign to review, I knew it was no coincidence. The yard sign states the simple message: "Everything Beautiful Begins With God," and the reference Ecclesiastes 3:11. I chose that verse as the theme verse for this blog back in March 2011.

He has made everything beautiful in it's time. He has also set eternity in the human heart, yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end. 

Kopek loves to get in on pictures
There's a connection between eternity and beauty in that verse. I think the connection is that there's something in us that's made for beauty, made to appreciate beauty, made to want to create beauty.

When beauty becomes in idol, it becomes ugly.

But when we long for beauty, maybe we're really longing for the Author, God. 


"Every experience of beauty points to eternity."
       -Hans Urs Von Balthasar 

As far as beauty relates to this blog, I've crafted a more defined purpose statement:
Scribbles From Emily is a faith, lifestyle, and creative inspiration blog. I believe in making life beautiful, changing the world for the better, and celebrating everyday. That's what I seek to encourage through craft tutorials, decor ideas, style tips, spiritual encouragement, and more.
 I want to inspire every reader to create beauty in their own way. I'll share crafts, decor, and once in a while, style posts, but that certainly doesn't exhaust what beauty looks like in everyday life. So, I'll also share inspiration posts with lovely images, themes, and lots of links to inspire your way of creating beauty.

Along those lines, starting this Wednesday I'm going to have a new weekly feature here. To reconnect with my English Literature education, every Wednesday I'll share a poem. In my signature cheesy style, I'm calling it "Waxing Poetic Wednesday." We can all drink tea and read poetry and be inspired. :D

I'm starting with my very favorite poems of all time, any guesses? The first poet's initials are E.D.


And if you're looking to add a little beauty to your yard decor, you'll want to click on that button above to see the entire Redeemed outdoor collection. And you'll also want to use this code for 25% off: JOY2012

I'll continue to explore and share what finding beauty looks like in everyday life, but I'd really like to know, what does it look like in your life? How do you find beauty in your everyday days? 



DaySpring provided me the with the chalkboard and yard sign free of charge for my review, but my opinion is my own :)

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