Beautiful things that bring joy to the soul

Beautiful things. As I’ve gotten older I’ve gained a greater appreciation for beautiful things. I’m not talking so much about jewelry, although I’ve been given some beautiful jewelry in my lifetime. Nor clothes, they tend to look far prettier on anyone else rather than me.
I’m talking about the beautiful things I have gathered over the years. I keep them close because having them brings more than pleasure, but a joy that never tires to bring smiles or a sense of warmth and comfort when gazed upon or wrapped within its borders.
Beautiful things are truly more than beauty to the eye. The bed designed and lovingly made piece by piece by a great-great grandfather for his daughter then passed down from one generation to another, or the rocking chair bestowed to my husband because his grandmother who spent many an hour rocking her first born grandson was so much more than just the arms that cradled, but a heart that loved unconditionally. These too, are beautiful things.
Handmade crafts or precious purchases often times made decades ago by family now home in heaven but whose blood runs through my veins, have a home now with me. I’ve heard a lot of stories about many of these family members during my lifetime. Some of which may be more legend and folklore than true history, but they belong to my family all the same. Someday I will have the opportunity to tell them how much I have valued their handiwork that was made for one of their loved ones and ended up with me, one their descendents. Or the china they loved when setting the table for a family dinner, or a beloved trinket that cost little but meant the world to them. Those things mean much to me too. When we finally meet, I think we will love each other, or as my oldest daughter likes to say, “We’re going to be best friends, I just know it.” We already have much in common, having loved many of the same people, places and things.
I love my photographs for they are beautiful to me too, both those given and those I’ve taken. Anyone who has ever been in my home would know this within seconds. Everywhere you look, whether on walls, shelves, or tables of every kind, is displayed moments captured through photography. Whether still shots or action, each a moment in time, a memory worth reliving over and over again.
And my books, of which there are hundreds that line my shelves as well as stacked here and there throughout my house, are greatly loved too. Fiction or non-fiction, new or old, or really ancient, I love them all. I’ve spent many an hour with them, especially my treasured Holy Scriptures whose very Words sustain me. In my home are also Bibles left to us by loved ones since passed, and it moves me to hold and read the very books they too, held so dear.
Whether a book, painting or photograph that tells a treasured story, speaking to me every time my eyes linger, and a hand-me-down or handcrafted work of art that lends its love through the ages, these to me are beautiful things.
King Solomon says in Proverbs 24:3-4, “By wisdom a house is built, and through understanding it is established; through knowledge its rooms are filled with rare and beautiful treasures.” May it be so in my home and yours.