Beauty in Strange Places

On Labor Day, we were at my Grandparent's house for a family gathering. Sadly, some of our family recently moved to the beautiful state of Virginia, so each gathering feels a little strange without them here. But nevertheless, we had a beautiful day and the perfect temperature for outside exploration. Some of my cousins came back with the crazy, fiery orange organism you see above there. Know what it is? It's a mushroom. No, we didn't eat it (that would be stupid), but it sat on the table as a kind of living cornucopia and everyone admired it throughout the day.

Seriously, have you ever seen a fungi that is so beautiful? 

It just struck me that with all our human endeavors, we never can make anything that matches even the slightest profound beauty of our Creator. It was a good reminder to me that as I struggle to make myself and my surroundings "beautiful," God creates beauty in something as seemingly mundane as fungus. And perhaps all my strivings for beauty, perfection, and order are simply masking the true beauties of life. So this Fall I'm determined to take note of every detail of creation that surrounds me, to the best of my abilities. And instead of feeling ashamed that I can't produce the kind of beauty I want, I will rest assured that I don't have to. He's got it covered already.