As we were looking out the window into the alley way of the Brothels in India, Dr. R asked each one of us to find beauty in what we saw. The streets were filled with trash. The houses were painted but faded on the walls that were covered with cracks.  There were bars over every window and tattered clothes hanging from every porch above. This place was dark and the smell of sweat, trash, and perfume mixed together made you pull up your scarf and take a deep breathe to hold in. What was beautiful about this place?

As I sat there staring into the alley, I asked God to reveal his beauty to me. I took a deeper look at the things that once made this place dark and suddenly the things that were dirty and old were beautiful to me. The houses were painted with so many different pretty colors like pink, purple, and green (something we don't do in America).  And the walls that were cracked and appeared to be falling apart brought the history of these Brothels to mind. The bars that protected the windows each had a different design within them and the clothes hanging out of them were so colorful and the patterns on them were all different. Suddenly, beauty was everywhere. Sometimes you just have to look beyond first glance to see it.

I've been learning to look for beauty in every situation.  Even in things that you can't physically see. God makes beauty from ashes and God knows my life is filled with ashes.  Instead of focusing on all the ugly and torment though, I'm starting to see how God heals and redeems. God makes beautiful things out of us- we just have to be willing to let him. To fall in love with him a little deeper each day and know that he has created us beautiful.