Beauty in Being Pressed

My kiddos have an interest in science experiments and looking at the, what happens if or when aspect.  T loves to be creative, as do I, so we often find different ways to be creative using whatever medium and technique we have around us.

T likes to use his tools often to put together small boards in various combinations.  He decided to see what happens when he used a hammer and pounded it on the concrete of the front porch on a piece of clover flower.  He thought it was interesting and cool.

As I watched him it hit me…I told him to grab a piece of card stock and I was going to gather a few supplies.  I went around our garden picking flowers that were done blossoming.  He pounded the hammer with care and place each flower in it\’s spot to create beautiful works of art.

Those flowers were done blossoming, but they weren\’t done sharing their beauty.  After being pressed between the hammer and paper, even more of their beauty began to shine through.  It was their inner beauty.

Yes, I know that sounds kind of cheesy, the inner beauty of a flower, but hang with me a moment.  We all have an inner beauty and outer beauty.  A part of that inner beauty is confidence, strength, braveness.  Bits and pieces of our character, who we were made to be are coming through.  When we are pressed, there is beauty in that.

All through life there are  moments where we are pressed.  Sometimes the pressure makes us fail, frail, bend, break.  Yet other times that pressure makes us stronger, more confident, grows us, changes us.  There is beauty in being pressed, but it only shows through if you allow your mindset to go that perspective.

Even in the storms there is something to be grateful for.  As is there in the overwhelm, anxiety, worry, struggles, battles, along with in the uplifting, encouraging, rainbows, success, joys.  And you know what, even in the mundane there is something to be grateful for.

Yet sometimes it is in being pressed that the beauty really surfaces and is set free.

Is there a space in your life right now that the beauty is trying to release?  Are you in a season that is ready to bloom, to shine, to guide, to uplift, to share?

What if you let yourself be pressed, acknowledge it, and set it free.  Take those steps, no matter how small, forward seeing where they lead.

Remember, diamonds are only made from being under pressure.  That pressure brings out their true beauty.

If you get a chance, listen to the song \”Diamonds\” by Hawk Nelson.  I will post the lyrics below (found from doing a google search), but there is something about hearing the words with the music.  

I hope and pray that even through the pressures you can still see the beauty, feel the beauty that will come from it.

{The photo is what the hammered flowers turned out to look like on paper.  Next to it are a few other creative works. T made a clay rainbow in art class, I made a birch forest on canvas.}

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