Making February Special: Week 2

 BEAUTY 

Like the week prior, I planned on making an intentional choice each day that somehow corresponded with the week's theme. Beauty is one of my favorite things to integrate into my life and I imagined making choices during the week like wearing pretty things to work and setting the table nicely for dinner...but none of that happened. I wore clothes based on what would keep me warm and was washed, and remember eating probably half our dinners in front of the TV. Ha! Beautiful. ;) 

But there were certainly a few very beautiful occurrences that I stopped and enjoyed throughout the week. They just weren't as planned and deliberate on my part. Maybe it's better that way. 

Valentines & Letter Writing: 

This was my third year of sending Valentines! I sent much fewer altogether this year, and didn't manage to make any by hand, but it was still good fun to write little notes to my friends and family that mean so much to me! My favorite little bit of visual beauty were including these pretty floral stickers to the envelopes. 

Sunsets & Outdoor Beauty:

Nick & I made a little trip over the long weekend, and ventured out to enjoy a fresh landscape at about dinner time one evening. The sunset was wonderful! I was so excited about how the snow looked with the sun low in the horizon---deep purples and pinks transformed the white into something magical. The very next night we enjoyed another beautiful sunset...but this time from the comfort and warmth of our car which I didn't mind. ;) 

Babies on Earth & in Heaven:

Sunday morning we made a special detour and visited the resting place of a friends' first born baby and I said little prayers for all my other friends and family who have lost their babies. This visit paired with starting to read the story of Chiara Corbella Petrillo  that same day gave me a new sense of peace towards infant loss. Tragic as infant loss is -- and as afraid as I am about miscarrying someday -- God's hand is present at all times which means there is something beautiful present at all times too...even in grief and loss. Our little trip reminded me of this. 

Sunday afternoon we made one other special detour, this time to pay a visit to family and our newest niece...who happens to be my personal favorite. ;)  I've been close with my BIL & now SIL since they started dating so it is really special to be with them as their family grows. Their new daughter is perfect and I'm always delighted to see her. She makes me excited for when our family begins to grow, too. 

I think the juxtaposition of the two visits did me well: to see that there is beauty in and meaning in the lives of both babies that we spent time with on Sunday. To recall that both babies were loved into being and remain loved to this day. To remember that life lived is a gift and a treasure even if that little life's time on earth is short. God is with us when we hold our babies in our arms and when the best we can do is press our hands to the stone where they lay or hold them close in our memory and I think that's the important thing to remember. Sunday's visits served as that reminder for me. 

And with that, I'll conclude Week 2 of Making February Special. :)

MK