Beauty

Over the weekend, I went to my favorite store, Anthropologie. The store is beautiful. The clothes, books, displays and other artifacts are designed well, look unique, and are arranged well. I love walking into the store and wandering around, touching the fabrics, looking at the arrangement of items, the colors, the textures, even walking in the front glass doors with their giant wooden door handle is enjoyable.

I entered the store and started to wander. Breathing and walking slowly, taking it in and enjoying the moment. I am a person who runs through life, I like to have lots of social engagements, go for runs, work hard at work, have ideas and schemes, thoughts and prayers. Finding times of quiet enjoyment and peace are really important. Stopping for breathing and beauty is good.

The two friends I went to the store with made their way to chat on a couch as I explored. I rounded the corner and headed to the sale area. I flipped through nice shirts, sweaters, jeans, pants, and then turned to the dresses in the middle. There, waiting for me, was a yellow dress that I tried on a fell in love with back in June in Chicago. I like to go try on things sometimes at Anthroplogie, just for fun. You get to experience yourself in this newness, this uniqueness and beauty. There were two of the dress on the rack and one was in my size! Perfection! I grabbed it and held it to me, like I was hugging it. Now I had a reason to buy a dress (a friend's wedding) and it was half price. (This store is expensive normally (another reason it is nice to wander around it, you can't so don't buy stuff)) I gathered some other items and made my way to the fitting room.

The dress what the first item that I tried on, my lovely yellow dress, with handkerchief pattern. (and pockets!) The ladies in the fitting room - the two women working and a lady who was trying things on, plus her friend - commented on how much they loved it. Then I went prancing through the store to show my friends, and twirl in my pretty dress. Other people who work there stopped and commented on how great the dress was. Have you ever tried things on that you feel so good in? Things that fit, and it literally puts a skip in your step, or a twirl in the case of a good dress. What a great time, being in the moment (something I often have trouble with) and being beautiful in a pretty dress. What joy. What fun!

God made things beautiful. In the beginning he made the world and it was perfect. It was beautiful, relationships were whole and things were as they should be. Beautiful things can be a great celebration and reminder of God's love, grace and beauty. God's love is one of abundance and extravagance. That is beauty as well. Any dress would be fine, it would get the practical job of being clothes done, but this dress, this pretty yellow dress, is so much more special. I am thankful for it, for walking into that nice store that day and the dress being there for me. What an experience.

Of course, you can go too extreme and become shallow, but if beauty is properly celebrated, there is such freedom in it.