It is said that beauty lies in the eye of the beholder. I think that is a very true statement, but sometimes you have to look for the beauty.
Flowers are beautiful. You really don't have to look too hard to see it .That third picture... just a donkey and a bunch of dirt, right? Even the bottom picture is beautiful if you look for it. I want to challenge you to look for the beauty in EVERY picture. If you look hard enough, you will find SOMETHING of beauty. You might have to look REALLY hard in some of them, but if you look hard enough, it is there; somewhere. It may be only the curve of a rock, the shape of a leaf, or a part of the architecture of a building. That bottom picture.. bring your focus up a little, block out the dirt, and now what do you see?? You have to look. Hard. A flash of color? The curve of a wing? The promise of help and hope?? There is something there. You just have to look. (Still not seeing it? It's OK, just keep trying!)

God looks at us that way too. We may not see the beauty in ourselves or others, but it is there. God sees it. You see, it's all in the way we look at things. Are we looking through eyes of love or eyes of hatred, bitterness, envy, self centeredness or a multitude of other possibilities. Filter what you see through God's eyes, and then see what you will see.

Take a few minutes to look through those pictures again , only this time look for something good or beautiful in each one.
I think you will be surprised to see what is there if you take a minute to look for it.

My pictures don't always capture what I was trying for, but they always capture something. I just have to look for it. Something I've learned over the last few years.

I'll get back to the stories tomorrow. And I hope you look at the pictures with new eyes. See the awful stuff, but also look for the good stuff. In every picture.

In Christ alone I stand redeemed.
Cindy