My husband and I are expecting our third child, a daughter, at the beginning of April. The state of my house indicates that clearly I have reached the third trimester. The cupboards are gutted and rearranged. Things that probably don’t need cleaning are cleaned. My seeking to add beauty to our final baby’s room has overflowed onto the rest of our apartment, as browsing through Pinterest and Instagram inspire dreams of new décor and transforming our space.

After giving time and attention to these things, I sometimes find a guilty monologue echoing through my thoughts. These things don’t last. What eternal value do they have? What good will come from surrounding our lives with the material glitz of this world? Is it honoring to God to be so enamored  by all the pretty things?

Then as I looked out my window at the creation whose beauty cries out praise to the creator, that it can be honoring to Him! God didn’t create a purely utilitarian world. He dressed it beautifully, adorned it for our enjoyment and to remind us that He is with us. The appreciation of something beautiful truly brings a spark of hope to the downtrodden soul.

“All that is good, all that is true and all that is beautiful brings us to God. Because God is good, God is beauty, God is truth.”~Pope Francis

How I love the stillness and purity of the outdoors after a fresh snowfall! I don’t love the cold, but I appreciate the magic of the untouched white as it gilds the bare, leafless trees. Oh, and how delighted I am to find the first cluster of tulips poking up after a hard winter. Even the Bible takes time to recognize beauty’s ability to impact living things.

“Flowers appear on the earth;
    the season of singing has come,
the cooing of doves
    is heard in our land.” Song of Solomon 2:12 (NIV)

Instagram has a virtual corner that has set itself up as a  marketplace, full of beautifully staged photos and lovely things people have taken the time to make and sell. I do love browsing through and enjoying the diversity of gifts God has given. I’m amazed by the abilities of freehand painters, and enjoy the beauty people are choosing to share. Investments in beautiful things others have made, add to my home. They remind me that created things, though never as great as the Creator, can remind us of who He is. Every time I look at them, I feel a little thrill of happiness and hope.

We too can offer beauty. Occasionally, I find a project that’s within my scope and I get  to engage in creating my own beautiful things. I’m so thankful God didn’t just place us in a sterile  and industrial world with no color and no “scope for imagination” as Anne of Green Gables would say. From the freshly fallen snow to the first pink buds of spring, He has brought us beauty in every season. Whether I simply appreciate the natural world, or make beautiful things with my hands, I’m loving God’s generosity in allowing me to enjoy, find inspiration, and take part in beautifying a broken world as we hope for the day when beauty will be all we know.

Readers, How can you be a steward of beauty in your places? 

Sarah Clews is a wife, mother of two little girls, and prolific reader. She received her BS from Corban University in English and still loves writing. She helps her husband run their martial arts school, and in her free time, enjoys sewing, experimenting with makeup, and reading blogs.