Hushed: True Beauty Conversations

My friend Melissa and I are continuing our conversation about Beauty this morning. We've been talking about True Beauty through a series of letters on Fridays: What is Beauty? What will we tell our daughters about Beauty? We're so glad you're joining us. We would love to hear from you!

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My girls have an obsession with Goodnight Moon.
It's not what you'd expect. They're not excited about seeing the moon or the cow jumping over the moon. Not even the kittens who they'll meow for are the reason this book is so dearly loved.
As soon as they hear me say "And a bowl full of mush...", both girls are holding little fingers to their wide open mouth in joyful anticipation. They're waiting for the moment when they can say, "Hush!"

I feel hushed.

I've felt this way for a couple weeks now. I guess you can feel that a little from the my Living the Truth post and the silence on my blog.

Who am I (so fallible, so prideful, so weak!) to sit and write or speak of anything holy?
Who am I to have been invited into His Story?
And the Accuser darts in to make me feel guilty for this time of hush, for speaking what I can't manage to live, or even for putting myself out there at all. "Retreat!" he cries and perhaps I listen too often to the wrong voice. I find myself quickly buried under an avalanche of perceived expectations, failures, and criticism.

And there's only one way to get out from underneath an avalanche of this size:

To Count Truth.

To Count Grace.
To Count the Moments.
To Count Beauty Bestowed.

My gratitude journal lies empty this week, some little girl ran off with it and I have seen no need to hunt it down. And because it is missing, I haven't stopped to savor beauty. I haven't truly seen the things in my life that are truth.
Whatever is lovely... think on it.

Two girls are screaming now rather than napping... cutting these last 8 teeth between them has been hard work. The only truth that I can meditate on is:

There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heaven. ~Ecclesiastes 3:1

And that is a beautiful truth. A truth worth being repeated daily to myself.

Teething is a season, and it will soon pass. Savor those moments snuggling that poor baby.

Being hushed is a season, and it will soon pass. Savor those moments of having a quiet and broken spirit and use them to fill yourself with the beautiful truths found only in the word of God.