Beauty In Broken Things

I have this incredibly complex thought in my head, and I just can't quite express it.
Basically, the idea is this: I am beginning to think that one of the most important things in the world is to see the beauty in broken things. We live in a broken world, we live in a world that has been trampled and ravaged by sin. It is a world that can seem very very dark and depressing and just plain nasty at times. But when we slow down a little bit, we will make a unique discovery! Even in the midst of a broken down house, even in the midst of a world totally ravaged by sin, even in the midst of imperfect people living in a world that is vastly different from its original design, we can still find beauty. The reason that we can find beauty is that the True Source of beauty is still active and alive. The True Source of beauty can be seen in the budding leaves of an April tree, in the song of a newborn baby bird, in the crispness of the morning air, or in the wonder of a setting Kansas sun.
Whenever we stop and view the world around us, whenever we stop to smell the roses we can see beauty, and it is a wonderful gift from the hand of God that we can see and experience the beauty that He has created and creates still. For it is not without effort that the leaf unfolds from its winter shelter, it is not without care that a baby bird breaks through the shell, it is not without a whisper that sun drives the dark from the sky, and it is not without intricacy that an Artist paints an evening sky. All of these things are an act of the Living and Creative God of the Universe. When He creates all of these wonders, I dare to say that He is exerting the same creative powers that He did when He fashioned the world. The hands that hold the world, are still creating today. He has yet to give up on His world, He has yet to give up on its restoration, He has yet to give up on you. He will never stop, He will never stop until everything is completely and totally restored. But until that day, He will still continue to give us ever small glimpses of true beauty. He will keep giving us those tiny little reminders that this broken down world will be re-built, that this world that is ravaged by sin will be made new. He continues to give us assurance that He will complete the work that He began in His children. In His own special way He says "Dear child, no matter how hard today may seem, I have a plan. I have a plan for you and it is good. It is good beyond your wildest dreams. And that plan is being carried out and will unfold just as beautifully as a budding May rose."
We must learn to see the beauty in broken things. We must learn to see the beauty that is all around us. For it is these glimpses into the heart of a wonderfully creative God that we find hope and full assurance. It is when we see the good that is still around us that we remember that good will always endure, that love wins in the end.
Never forget.
Never give up.
For there is beauty, in broken things.