For Easter this year, my sister-in-law decided to bring in her 40th birthday with a bang. She invited all twenty-nine of us from CO, PA, and NC to the Outer Banks for a family reunion of sorts.
When she suggested it back in the fall, it seemed impossible that we could pull it off. The Willard side of our family is large. We are all busy with homeschooling, school sports, careers—how could we make this happen?
But somehow, by the grace of God, all twenty-nine of us made it to Corolla, NC. Not one of us were missing. A true gift.
Together, we celebrated my sister-in-law’s 40th birthday, two high school graduates, and what was most precious to this mama’s heart—all three of my girls’ baptisms.
We woke Easter Sunday to gather as a family to worship our risen Lord. It was a time of awe and communion with each other I will never forget. We sang hymns, shared personal testimonies of Jesus’ power in our own lives, and read Scripture out loud to one another.
It was a holy moment.
The whole weekend was a holy moment. There were times as we were gathered together I just had to sit back in awe, and pause for a moment. The beauty of our gathering was not lost on me. The sacredness of our communion felt deeply.
There are times in our life that beg to be remembered. That deserve a memorial of sorts to testify that we came this way, we experienced this thing, we hushed our hears, knitted our souls.
That’s what this weekend was for me. A memorial of beauty of sorts. The gravitational pull of being together as a family gathered me up into something richer—something deeper. It birthed in me the hunger for the unquenchable Beauty of God Himself.
It’s astounding how God can use these temporal, earthly relationships, these passing worldly encounters, to awaken us to Himself, and ultimately woo us to Him.
In The Life of Moses, Gregory of Nyssa describes the longing for more in this way:
“Such an experience seems to me to belong to the soul which loves what is beautiful. Hope always draws the soul from Beauty which is seen to what is beyond, always kindles the desire for the hidden through what is constantly perceived . . .And the bold request which goes up the mountains of desire asks this: to enjoy the Beauty not in mirrors or reflections, but face to face.”
Is this not the ache of all our hearts? Is this not what the wise man Solomon once alluded to as he penned the words, “He has set eternity in the hearts of man.”?
We see but a reflection of beauty now. Just a sample of the whole. We taste the sweetness of the homegrown strawberry, we witness it in the laughter of our children, we feel it as we knit our souls to our lover, and yet we long for more. Not the reflection but the ultimate face to face encounter.
Moses asked for this when He cried out for God to show him His glory. And yet the Lord reminded him, “You cannot see my face and live.”
And yet somehow God graciously shows us His face bit by bit in the here and now.
Do we pause long enough to witness this glory?
I want to take a moment to tell you about the new online workshop Tim and I are doing. If you long for beauty in your own life. If this post resonates with you, and you’re thinking perhaps you need to take more time out of your busy day to forage the beauty all around, this workshop may be exactly what you are looking for. You can watch the video below where I briefly explain what we will be teaching in Foraged Beauty. For a limited time you can get the early registration price but it ends soon.
Do we recognize the beauty of the sound of the frogs lulling us to sleep at night with their croaking melody? Do we pause to look our children in the eyes and see the deeper desires of their hearts? Do we feel it when the symphony plays the final note?
The paradox is that no matter how much we are filled with divine Beauty, we still long for more.
I longed for it as I walked the seashore at the Outer Banks looking for conch shells. I craved it more as I watched my girls immersed three times into the baptism of Christ: Father, Son, Holy Spirit. I cried out for it as I watched the sun set upon the ocean shore.
There is no end to longing on this side of eternity.
And yet, the mystery is that somehow within this longing my soul finds satisfaction. I am not a soul tormented by my frustrated longings—never satisfied. My strivings cease as I take of the bread and cup He offers me.
Even as I long for more, I can celebrate the already I have before me:
The laughter in my daughter’s eyes as she gingerly steps into the frigid Atlantic waters.
The passion in my father-in-law’s voice as he shares the Easter morning message from the Word.
The tenderness of my husband as he holds my baby girl’s hand as she steps into the baptismal waters.
The joy of the sixteen cousins at last reunited, peppering the volleyball in the sand.
When we encounter Divine Beauty, our soul is satisfied even as we long for more. He is an “infinite sea of absolute Beauty” (Stephen R. Turley, PhD, Awakening Wonder).
May we find ourselves upon the seashore of this grace today, caught up in the delight of longing for more.
Thank-you for joining me in this space, friend! It’s a gift to be with you.