The Messy Middle

where grace and truth reside

  • About
  • Books
  • Blog
  • Speaking

Community, Faith, Holiday

The Value of Fleeting Beauty

Happy May Day!

The highlight of this day when I was a kid was pouring over the wallpaper books and picking the paper for the cone. Flowers are fleeting. I’ve heard people say that they don’t like giving flowers because they wilt and won’t last.

If flowers aren’t your thing, I’m not going to argue with you. But I will push back on investing in what appears fleeting.

This year I am aware of a lesson flowers offer: Enjoy today. The season is passing. The colors are vibrant. If wait to enjoy it or wait for life to settle down, you’ll miss it. Instead, flowers are a spiritual discipline in noticing and embracing mystery in the midst of the distractions of our self-labeled important lives.

I saw this sign at the Denver Botanic Gardens:

May Day 6AA

This is what I’m telling myself this May Day: Appreciate the ways God has sprinkled beauty into your days that might not be there tomorrow and yet may live forever. See your life as a garden. It’s to be cultivated. It’s seasonal. There will be times of fallowness and great bounty. Find the beauty in what you have today. Take time to notice.

May Day 1A

May Day 3A

May Day 4A

May Day 2A

May Day 5A

 

Are you a flowers person? If not, what points to fleeting beauty in your life? We all have something!

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest
  • LinkedIn
  • Email

Related

«
»

9 Comments May 1, 2015

About Amy

My name is Amy and I live in the messy middle of life. I have been Redeemed from permanent muck and live with the tension of the Already and Not Yet.

Comments

  1. Janet says

    May 1, 2015 at 6:47 am

    I love this, Amy! And this is one of the things I notice about you when I’m with you–that you remind us to enjoy today!

    Reply
    • Amy says

      May 1, 2015 at 12:52 pm

      Thanks Janet, what a kind thing to say! I forget everyone isn’t wired this way :)

      Reply
  2. Tammy Ogden says

    May 1, 2015 at 7:07 am

    Time. Time is a fleeting beauty to me.

    Reply
    • Amy says

      May 1, 2015 at 12:54 pm

      So true!

      Reply
  3. Kristi says

    May 1, 2015 at 8:37 am

    Enthusiasm for discovering/learning new things is a fleeting beauty/joy. Children seem to have it. As we grow older we often lose/suppress it in order to appear mature. But delight and wisdom go hand in hand.

    Reply
    • Amy says

      May 1, 2015 at 12:54 pm

      Amen! Delight and wisdom do go hand in hand :)

      Reply
  4. Nita Kulesa says

    May 1, 2015 at 1:45 pm

    Beautiful flower pictures, Amy! I was so reminded of the “fleetingness” of spring in Colorado when we were gone for two weeks and I totally missed the crabapple and tulip blossoms! Some of the seasons of my life seem, in hindsight, to have been just as fleeting, although at the time the trials seemed to go on forever. I’m thankful that God is timeless.

    Reply
    • Amy says

      May 1, 2015 at 3:18 pm

      Thanks Nita :)! But I’m sorry you missed some of spring flowers around here! And a double yes to the timelessness of God :). Still, I wonder what seasons will look like in heaven?

      Reply
  5. Mark Allman says

    May 2, 2015 at 9:57 am

    I do love flowers. To me color is beauty. I love vibrant colors… pastels mostly. My son has said if I was in charge of the world then it would be much more colorful. Unfortunately for him that was not a compliment although it is true. :) I like how colors have so many shades and the amount of light changes everything. Even black and white can be so different depending how much light there is. Estimates that we can distinguish a million different colors blows my mind and some women if they have the rare orange cone can distinguish a 100 million colors. I have said to some people that God does the etch a sketch with skys color… he paints and then shakes it up and its here briefly but ever changing.

    I hope one day to see both the northern and southern lights at the poles. :)

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Meet Amy Young

My name is Amy and I live in the messy middle of life. I have been Redeemed from permanent muck and live with the tension of the Already and Not Yet. Read More…

Social

  • View themessymiddle’s profile on Facebook
  • View the_amy_young’s profile on Twitter
  • View amy_young1234’s profile on Instagram
  • View messymiddleamy’s profile on Pinterest
ADD TO FEED READER | CONTACT

welcome, here we

Don't have to choose between extremes. You can embrace life's Messy Middle.

recent posts

  • Becoming More Fruitful is published :)
  • Summer Reading Challenge 2022 is Finished
  • You’re invited to a launch party!
  • Summer Reading Challenge 2022 is here!
  • Top 14 Books of 2021
  • What my book group read in 2021

Archives

meet amy young

My name is Amy and I live in the messy middle of life. I have been Redeemed from permanent muck and live with the tension of the Already and Not Yet. Read More…

explore

  • About
  • Books
  • Blog
  • Speaking

get updates

Copyright © 2023 Amy Young · Customized by A Sacred Journey

{This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website. Learn more.}