beauty breaking through.

the inspiration for this post was a line spoken at a beautiful wedding j & i sang at this past week.



life isn't always pretty but it's always beautiful. 

both the bride and groom have been through a tough journey, many nights full of tears and days full of grieving and pain. so it was an appropriate phrase to describe their wedding day.
that beauty has come from their past.
you could almost tangibly touch the joy radiating from the core of their beings.
they've come through the fire as pure gold.

life isn't always pretty but it's always beautiful.

the process that it takes to get to the other side makes life beautiful. 

mandy said: we have all survived something.
a survivor has a sparkle they didn't have before.

calling something "pretty" can sometimes be superficial. 

but beauty.

beauty has girth. beauty has depth.

beauty always breaks through.

this image has been imprinted in my mind since i took this photo this past spring.
the flowers were growing through the fence.
new life and color and a sweet smell was busting through what was hard and gray and lifeless.

a wise & amazing mentor of mine, mary, said once that there are certain species flowers that only grow among the rocks.
{woah.}
they won't grow in nice, moist, traditional soil.
nope, this kind only grows where it's rough and rocky.

we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. 

romans 5:3-4

it's never the end. there is always hope. and that makes life beautiful.