Beauty-Gifts

I have days, many of them actually, when I wonder how I can possibly find a fresh view or a new vignette within the walls of my home. {These joyful days of toting a baby on my hip mean that my camera rarely ever leaves home... While I would love to seek out new scenery and fresh inspiration I'm not so coordinated as to securely hold a baby and wield a camera at the same time!}
And so, while at home, I'm always looking for something new to capture... a different angle, a fresh view, a special moment. One of my daily prayers has become, "Lord, give me eyes to see your beauty-gifts." I whisper this prayer because I know that His beauty-gifts are there, just as His mercies are ever present... Indeed, many of His mercies are His beauty-gifts!
As I look and as I pray He gently reminds me that the real beauty, the lasting beauty, is in a life lived in communion with Him. Yet, He never ceases to open my eyes to the beauty of daily life lived out in our home... to things like a colorful heap of dirty clothes on the laundry room floor!