The other day I was working on creating a photo book with my daughter on Shutterfly.  We were going through some pictures from 2009.  As we were scanning through them I was stunned.

Yes, my kids have both grown so much since then.  I always think they are precious.  I smile deep down into my heart as the memories come flooding back.

I am taken aback by the pictures of myself.  I look young.  I was so beautiful.

Yet, as I recall I did not feel the way at the time.

So in a small way, my heart breaks today that I did not love myself more in the moment and take joy in the beauty that I was given.   I did not praise God enough for it.

While it does invoke a bit of sadness for me today, it also brings conviction as well.

Today is a new day.  Perhaps five years or ten years or twenty years from now I will scroll through the pictures of this year.  I will look back on them with eyes of greater experience & wider emotions and will see the beauty that I take for granted now.

But, I do not think it wise to wait five, ten or twenty years to really appreciate what I have been given right now.

“Let everything He has made give praise to Him” Psalm 148:5

I am a beautiful creation knit together so tenderly by the Father’s hands.  That means in all my moments, whether I feel it or not, I am beautiful!

May I be able to praise the Lord right here, right now because He made me and deserve glory for that.  May I realize with new revelation knowledge and understanding that in some way I reflect the image of God to this world.

So do you, my dear reader.  You reflect the image of God, the image which you were created in.  That makes you a vibrant light and a little sneak peak of Heaven.

You are absolutely amazing!  You are a so precious!

So I pray that as you go about your day today, that you do not put off savoring the beauty you have in this moment.  I pray that you revel in it.  I pray that it produces great praise in your life.

Right now, in this moment, the gift of the presence and of your current beauty is your for the taking.  May you love you abundantly today.

Dear Lord,

It is so easy for us to get caught up in all the ways we fall short and in all the perceived imperfections that we have.  Lord, that draws us away from praising You.  Your Word tells us to praise You simply because we were created by Your hand.  Thank You Lord, I praise You for the beauty You have given me.  I praise You for the beauty of each person who reads through these words. 

May I do what I can in this day to love who I am in this moment with more of the compassion that You love me with.  May that compassion overflow to all I meet in my day today who are also beautifully made in Your image.  If there is any way that I can encourage someone else to love their beauty, please help me to do that faithfully.

In the name of the most beautiful, Jesus Christ, amen.