An Altogether Beautiful Day

I used to be completely opposed to mediocre.

I wanted pizzazz and fireworks in everything. It’s kind of in my nature.  I don’t need glam but I do like special.

Then, life happened, and I discovered that special sometimes meant stressful, and sad, and too much, and overwhelming. I looked around me at one point and discovered a million broken pieces, with no way to pick them back up. I gaped and stared. I looked at my husband, whom I thought I knew, and didn’t know Him. I looked at my children and wondered how much pain I had caused them. I looked at my life and thought hope had left the building.

Then, as God started to pick up the pieces in me when I could not, the pieces of my life when I could not, I began to see beauty and it wasn’t in the glam or the fuss. It wasn’t in the fireworks and festivals. It was in the mediocre and the mundane, the places where it was boring enough that I could see through to Him.

The Song of Songs has a beautiful wedding and its feast, but most of it is full of the beautiful mediocre.

There are gardens and everyday connection, family life and fires with cooking pots, rosy pomegranate cheeks and lackluster body parts like necks and feet. To top it all off, it can be like wading through eight chapters of lovely poetry, but with two people who need to get their PDA in check.

The Song of Songs is not a superior book of the Bible, but it does offer us a unique perspective of God’s desire for us, God’s expectations of us, and God’s faithfulness to us in the big moments of life, yes, but also in those mediocre places. It teaches us a fair amount of what beautiful can look like in relationship and in our churches.

I am convinced that slowing down to spend some time with this beautifully imperfect couple in their pizzazz and their mediocre will help us to see the beautiful work of God in our moments, our surroundings, and most importantly in our relationships.

Join us to celebrate Altogether Beautiful Day – TODAY!

Help rain down some beautiful in the midst of this wonderful, ordinary day.

Share in the comments, on social media, or send out an email! Write a card or a note to a friend, take someone to lunch, serve your kids’ favorite foods- let someone in your life know that they are a beautiful gift of God to you. Use the hashtag #altogetherbeautiful and tag @heidigoehmann and/or @concordiapublishing so we can share your beautiful life stuff.

I see beautiful in each of you.

You were made beautiful by a God who loves you and redeemed altogether beautiful by a Savior who restores.

All I can say is, Thank you, Jesus. You are #altogetherbeautiful.