How to Create Beauty

A year and a half ago my friend Kristin noticed a trail near her house was called “Daffodil Trail” but there was not a single daffodil on it. She decided to change that. She rallied a couple of friends, bought hundreds of daffodil bulbs, and went on a stealth mission. Can you picture it? A handful of middle aged women all dressed in black sneaking onto a trail predawn and planting bulbs with the Mission Impossible theme song playing? Dun dun dun da dun dun… 

Daffodil Trail

And in March of last year that trail was popping with golden blooms. Kristin said, “We went down there to check them out, and we literally squealed with joy when we saw all the daffodils.” Kristin went to be with the Lord in May after a brave battle with pancreatic cancer. But she left her mark of beauty on this world. On my life. On so many lives. And in so many ways. In part with some flower bulbs. Daffodils come back year after year meaning anyone who walks along Daffodil Trail this year or ten years from now will be overwhelmed by the sunny yellow beauty and think it was always that way, because shouldn’t it be?

I want to be like Kristin and create more beauty in this world. 

The Apostle Paul told Timothy he wanted people to be “doing something beautiful for God and becoming beautiful doing it” (1 Timothy 2:10 MSG).

Yes! Let’s do that. Let’s do something beautiful for God today and as a result become more beautiful. 

We can add beauty to the world in a million ways. We can give a hug or a compliment. We can bake bread or brownies. We can write a song or a sonnet. We can clean out a garage or a drawer. We can paint a picture or a wall. We can string fairy lights on our porch or light a candle and fill a room with the beautiful scent of vanilla or lavender. 

Listen, you don’t need me to tell you there are some really ugly things in our world. There is hate and racism and war and violence and injustice and disease and jealousy and greed. But you and me? We have the opportunity to make things more beautiful. To shine Christ’s light and grow beauty all around us.

How will you create some beauty today?

And it’s interesting, because when we take the time to create beauty, when we invest in making the world more beautiful by buying the bulbs or putting sprinkles or glitter on top, by playing the music or planning the outfit or laughing out loud, we feel better too. God reminds us of how much He loves us and all the goodness He has for us. Bonus, creating beauty boosts our mental health.

Ready? Let’s do it. Let’s create some beauty for our good and for God’s glory.