We all go through it – pain, disappointments, and heartbreaks . . . some so deep that we can’t even share it properly with others (if we share at all).  And, having come from some deep painful experiences of the past, and maybe partly stemming from having a personality of an infj, I remember pain.  I dramatize it, feel the emotions of it, and dwell on it.

Pain is a gift, they say.  After pain comes joy.  And, sometimes, there is joy in the midst of pain.  That is why I started this site . . . to celebrate that joy, to draw attention to it.  Life is hard – we all know that.  We can minimize it, wallow in it, be bitter about it.  And I’ve done all three.  But, I’d like to know there was meaning in it, and – dare I say – even beauty.

Oh, you say.  How can you find beauty in arguments? In fights? Ugly words? In things even worse?  And I’ve seen these – participated in them, even, struggled with it.  But, there is beauty because . . . because of Christ.  Because He forgave me of these things.  Because He’s seen me at my absolute worst, and my meltdown points, my ugliest.  And He forgave me.  There is beauty in the times when my worst showed, and I asked for forgiveness, and received it.  There is beauty in being able to share my worst moments, in raw honesty, and fess up, and knowing I’m still a work in progress.  There is beauty that I can show my human weak side, and God receives me and gently calls me to something higher.

We see glimpses of it in the midst of an ugly, hurting world.  In the corners of a discarded life, a word of encouragement is said.  Or someone notices the unnoticed.  Leaves decay but new life pushes through the dirt.  The cold freezes the marrow of the trees, but in between the icy, windy blasts, tiny snowflakes with unique intricate designs, float to the earth.

Whispers of hope, for someone who will listen.