Beauty in the Ordinary

November 21st, 2006

Growing up, I’ve had many opportunities to work with children in different capacities. For two years, I served as a children’s minister at the church where I grew up. I have also taught various ages of children in Sunday School, and enjoy working with them.

The more time I spend with children, the more I realize that they have something that we don’t. It’s hard to put a finger on what the difference is, but I think it might lie in the way children view the world. There’s an innocence about them, that causes them to look at things differently than we adults might.

Children also look at the entire world around them with wonder. If you don’t believe this, simply watch a child while he or she is playing. While we’re coming out with more and more fancy and hi-tech toys for our children, it doesn’t always take such toys to please a child.

It’s not at all uncommon to see a child outside playing with a stick or a rock. I remember when I was a child that I could have picked up any old piece of trash in the house and have a blast with it. With a child’s imagination, a simple egg carton could become a great treasure chest. Children can find great beauty and wonder in everything around them.

As adults, we often lose this idea that beauty is found in the ordinary. However, as Christians, our salvation depends on it. You see, it was God who looked down upon us, and saw beauty in us.

Though we may seem ordinary or plain to ourselves and those around us, Psalm 139:14 tells us that we are “fearfully and wonderfully made”. Similarly, Psalm 8:4 says “What is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?” In other words, even by our own account, there’s not much reason for God to find value in us.

However, despite our unworthy behaviors or attitudes, God finds great value in each of us. Just like a child playing with an unlikely toy, God delights in his children. I don’t know about you, but some days I don’t feel worthy of such favor. Yet, regardless of what we can say or do, our God has always, and will always love and cherish us all. Isn’t that a God worth loving and serving?

Entry Filed under: Will's Blog