Just recently my husband and I celebrated out 11th Anniversary. We got to get away by ourselves which is pretty much unheard with a family of four, but we were successful thanks to amazing family. We celebrated 11 years by summiting our first mountain together! The experience was so soreal.
Our mountain of choice was Blood Mountain; the highest mountain on the Georgia side of the Appalachian trail peaking at 4,459 feet. Packed full of switch backs and loose rock the hike kept us alert. The hike took us about 4 and a half hours to go all the way up, hang out for a little while, and to come back down. Since, our nature walk took us through the woods for so long it gave us a lot of time for reflection, conversation, meeting other wanderers like ourselves, and to enjoy the scenery around us.
On the way up the mountain I took note of the trees and how they branched out wildly, the small creeks and how they curved downhill any which way, and the rocks beneath my feet with uneaven surfaces. When we made it to the top of the mountain I took note of how the range of mountains all around us...not one of them peaked to a perfect point. My husband and I even paid attention to all of the travelers and how none of them had their packs packed just right...all of them had room for improvent. However, even though they had a few things to learn it didn't take away the fact that their stories/backgrounds, their reasons for hiking, and even their smiles were full of beauty!
When my husband and I stood at the top of the mountain it reminded me of the last 11 years of our marriage...the struggles, the pain, and the triumphs. In hindsight not one year has been perfect but to be honest there has been so much beauty woven in every single detail!
PERFECTLY. IMPERFECT.
Beauty is easy to see when we are looking at nature, others, or our past. We can look at a sunset and even if it isn't the perfect color we can admire God's masterpiece. We can look at one of our friends and even if they think they are hideous we see the beauty of their face covered in freckles. We can even look at other people and their relationships and think they are flawless even if we have seen them fight before. We may look at our past and remember the pain but we do our best to dig for the good.
YET WHEN WE LOOK AT OURSELVES WE CANNOT ACCEPT THE FACT WE ARE NOT PERFECT!
Child of God if you can look at the imperfect world around you and see beauty, what makes you think that in your imperfections that you are not beautiful? Or that God doesn't see you as perfect? He created the trees that grow wild, the creeks that twist instead of remain straight, and He even knew that your best friend was going to be covered in freckles before they were born and He sees their beauty and loves them even more than you do!
Give yourself a break! You would be suprised on how others see your beauty in the things in which you find terrifying. Plus...in God's eyes if you have accepted Jesus...you are as perfect as you will ever be!!!
Hebrews 10:14, "For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are sanctified." (HCSB)