Beauty...

Life is strange.  On our way home from my first follow up appointment the other day, I found myself having a conversation with my husband that I would have never imagined having.  When we were married 17 years ago and were saying our "I do's", I'm pretty darn sure I wasn't thinking about the day I would be driving home from a plastic surgeon's office talking about the recent "work" I had done.  And, how about the fact that I'm having it done because I'm a breast cancer survivor...weird, strange, and still often hard to grasp (even though I'm living it).  

Lately, there seems to be a theme on some of the blogs I follow talking about the beauty that can be found in brokenness.  Hmmmm, oh how I can relate.  There are things one can learn from each and every experience, whether pleasant or unpleasant, easy or hard, fair or unfair.  Sometimes the beauty is not readily apparent, but if you search for it, you can find it. Somedays I'm still searching, but here is the beauty I see right now:

-My two kids- My body would not work to make babies.  Others made babies that they were unable to raise as their own.  My babies grew in my heart.  I can't imagine life without either of them; they are beautifully mine!  

-My marriage- There are things I would have never learned about our relationship had we not experienced some of the tough times.  Our love for one another has been pushed to its limits many times, but it's helped us to grow in so many ways. 

-My parents- I'm not sure I ever took it for granted, but I feel such a sense of appreciation for them these days.  They are there in a heartbeat for anything we need.  There is a familiar comfort with them at all times; they love me through it all. Spending time with them is one of my favorite things to do.    

-My best friend- Where does one even start?  She's pretty phenomenal and puts up with the happy and grumpy me.  Actually some days I wonder how she continues to put up with me (i'm sure she wonders too), but she does, and I'm grateful for it.  We know the nitty gritty parts of each other (more than we ever have) and it's such a blessing to have a relationship you can count on even in the depths of muck! 

-My friendships- So many other people have come into my life because of my experiences.  I'm so humbly grateful for each relationship and friendship.  They all serve such a distinct and individual purpose in my life and make it so much richer and sweeter.

There's my short, quick, list of today's beauty in brokenness...things I would have otherwise not been so keenly aware of or appreciated as I do today. They are relationships that have become so much more beautiful because of the hard times...rainbows after a storm.