The Hidden Beauty

Thanks for letting me use this picture Jason. For more great pictures from Jason, visit his blog http://jasonfrels.com/2020/05/09/some-hiking-and-wildflowers/

 

Jason has shown different shots of this dead tree on his blog and each time I see it, there is something about the tree that draws me in. He displays a lot of beautiful photos on his blog of flowers and lakes, and stars in the sky, but this dead tree stands out to me. Why? I figured it out today.

As I was sitting and reflecting on all the wonderful moments with my children over the years, there were moments that kept coming back to me. Yes, there were the moments when they were little and threw their little arms around me neck and squeezed me so tight while kissing my cheek, making my heart burst. The moments they brought me their little drawings or flowers that they picked. How many times did I put dandelions in a little cup of water?

The moments that they snuggled close to me while reading them a bedtime story and we kept blowing kisses as I would walk out of the door. I found out many years later that they kept blowing me kisses even when the door was closed, praying that I would feel them.

All those moments and more, I will forever cherish, for they warm my heart. They make me feel so rich in getting to experience the blessing of Motherhood, but …..

There are other moments as well. The moments that our tear stained cheeks were pressed against each other, and my heart was breaking, because I couldn’t stop the pain. I could only hold them. These moments are forever pressed into my heart, and they really are some of the most precious moments too. For in the rawness their is beauty. There is beauty in being real!

I never want my family and friends to feel like they have to pretend that all is fine and dandy. That everything is blooming and beautiful! I want them to be real. For their is beauty in knowing they trust me with their pain, and their “ugly” moments of life.

The bond is made ever so stronger when you can lean on someone for strength, pour out your heart and know they still accept you. When all masks all dropped and there is no cover up to hide the blemishes.

So perhaps this is why I am so drawn to that dead tree, because to me it signifies the raw, moments in my life. The moments that outwardly have not appeared to be very beautiful, but yet in those moments I have found a very special beauty. The beauty of friendship and love that withstands the storms of life, and keeps standing, just like this tree!