. The Dessert Years .

Photo Credit: DippedDreams.com

… Hoping to redeem myself as a hostess with my dear and beloved “Artistic Soul” friends …

All I really need is love, but a little chocolate now and then doesn’t hurt! ~Lucy Van Pelt

Church Window of Beautiful Pieces

The detail and artistry of stained-glass windows has always captured my eye as well as my curiosity. It reminds me of quilting, in that the artist selects seemingly random pieces to compose order and beauty.

During an evening in May of this year, I left a business meeting with my mind set on driving straight home. It had been a long day and, honestly, I was somewhat drained as I tossed my briefcase onto the passenger seat, put my key in the ignition and started the engine.

As I backed out of the parking space, looking through the rear window of my van, I could see deep blue sky peaking through bright, white billowing clouds. It was an unspoken invitation to take the long way home — camera in-hand — in order to capture seemingly random elements of said drive. And although I could post lengthy commentary regarding the beauty of that drive home, it is the memory of investing an hour of my life in the simple pleasure of “seeing what I could see” that dances through my mind this morning.

God whispers in our pleasures …  ~C. S. Lewis

How often do we simply choose the shortest distance between two points? Our plans typically include the quickest steps from one part of our day to another, with the goal of “getting it all done” … But in the end, we realize that “it” is rarely “all done” and the price we pay for rushing hither and yon is steep.

Why not simply opt to select seemingly random pieces of our hours, of our days — of our lives — to compose our own designs of order and beauty. To piece together a life lived well — a life sprinkled with simple pleasures and pause — even (and especially!) in the midst of change, choices and checkpoints.

The image above is a favorite of mine because it is beauty in the midst of a solid structure. Even beyond the lines of the glass and window frame, there are other lines and shadows within the frame of this image which add to the overall order and beauty.