a beautiful mess

Here we go, post number one. I feel it is only appropriate to explain why I have named my blog "a beautiful mess." I know it sort of seems like a downer... but bear with me because it is a phrase I have come to know and love. When I was in Oregon this past summer, I got to visit the Imago Dei church and picked up the book "This Beautiful Mess," written by the pastor there, Rick McKinley. I haven't actually finished it yet, but I have continually been inspired by the title. I know it is a weird statement, but I promise the more you think about it, the more you will be intrigued by it.

Think about how rewarding it can be to find beauty in the unexpected. I think we've all had those situations where we can look back and think, "wow, I really learned a lot," or "wow, that was really hard at the time, but I'm so glad it happened." Think about the seasons of life where we seem to find ourselves and fall more in love with the lord after times of great hardship. Beautiful is the mess. But we don't necessarily like mess, we like things to be neat and tidy. We like to think we can fix all of our messes.... but can we really? "In Jesus' kingdom, He alone can start with our messes and accomplish something we never could have imagined. And He does."

"To be human is to live with loose ends, with people and in a world of loose ends, feeling you've been made for perfection but knowing you can't get there on your own. Knowing that you've been placed here to bring a taste of something beautiful and blessed." This is where I fell more in love with the phrase, "a beautiful mess." I think it is so awesome and so important to find beauty in the messy situations that are part of life. Not to say that all of life is messy, but it sure can be. I've always liked the quote, "Life's not about waiting for the storm to pass, but learning to dance in the rain." It's about weathering the storm, finding strength, peace, and joy in the lord, and learning to find beauty in the messes, in the storms. We live in a messy world, with people who will inevitably make our lives more messy, so let's show them Christ's love and forgiveness, and learn to dance in the rain.

The picture above was taken my senior year of high school, on our "snow day." It was only the second time in my life that I've seen snow in Tucson. To me, the picture is the epitome of a beautiful mess. The snow was so beautiful, especially on the Tucson cactus and mountains.... but by the time my best friend and I went to play in the snow on the golf course it was all melting and gross, we couldn't even make a snow angel. Yet, I found this beautiful tree. Among the mess of melting, sloshing snow, I found the beauty. That is what the phrase means to me, finding beauty in any and every mess, because it's there... it's just a matter of finding it.p.s- it doesn't hurt that a beautiful mess is one of my favorite songs by my favorite artist of all time, mraz : ]