Purdy Places and me

Sometimes I get jealous because I see all the beauty that God has created in the world, like the cliffs of Dover, the Black Forest, the canals of Venice, and then I’ll think about the landscape we have here in America. NOt exactly mind-blowing. Ok wait, we have the Grand Canyon and Appalachia. So I guess we weren’t totally screwed over.
There’s all this beauty all over the world that God designed that just takes your breath away. I sometimes find myself wondering why God didn’t decide to have me be born in somewhere gorgeous like Amalfi, so that I would wake up in the morning and have no choice but to praise Him. What I wouldn't give to be surround by such captivating beauty daily. But I reckon I might not even know Him if I’d been born somewhere else.
It also makes me think about the beauty of the land where He did decide to put me. I think God finds beauty in the prairie and desert. Obviously, He created them after all!
I have no idea what you’d call where we live. Somewhere in between prairie and desert, I guess. Is Dallas a steppe? Could that be right? I don’t know. There’s nothing noticeably majestic about this place. It's easy to think of it as bland and boring. But I do think there is a subtle beauty here. You just have to open your eyes to it. It’s pretty lush here, vegetation thrives, so the hills that we do have can present spectacular vistas! Especially during Autumn. It’s been known to take my breath away at times. As you drive down a hill, look out at all the green and it’s incredible! Especially for a city this size! That's rare for a big city! Awesome.
I actually take great joy in the Texan horticulture. There is such artistry in the oaks that dot the skyline, in the yuccas, the cactus, the bluebonnets, and my favorite, the Mesquite trees.

Have you ever seen those bright yellow flowers that bloom on the cactus? How about that for gorgeous! Such a lovely, soft flower growing out of one of the driest, harshest plants! It’s insane. Such loving design in that! How can that not stir your heart for God?

And of course, the enormous Texas sky. It just seems bigger here than anywhere else. You can stand in a field, look up and just feel tiny. That’s a powerful experience. The sky just goes on forever, like it’s a warm blanket wrapping us up and protecting us. (And that’s the least fruity way of trying to describe it!)











So even though we might not live among the obvious beauty of places like Italy or Greece, we have our own blessing. The combined beauty of all these things can be overwhelming. So maybe instead of having one massive breathtaking object, like an ocean or a mountain, it’s the combination of all these smaller beauties that make it majestic.