It is beautiful...

"Though the world is ugly, IT IS BEAUTIFUL."  That line really stands out to me in this video.  That and "Moments...this is all we have.  Microscopic, fleeting moments."

*A woman I taught with is sitting at her mom's bedside at this moment, holding her hand as she dies of cancer.  Broken hearts.
*A 7 year old girl is fighting cancer, her days filled needles poking and treatments that make her sick and not seeing her family members (because they are far away).  Her parents are overcome with sadness, stress, and...hope.
*Another friend I have lost her mom in an instant a few months ago.  She didn't get to say goodbye.
*Children are dying from starvation and my children have plenty to eat.
*Some children, even some right here in our country where so many have so much, have no one tucking them in each night, no one caring enough to put healthy food in their bellies, no one reading them a story, and sometimes much worse.
*Women get pregnant and it's an inconvenience while some precious ladies I know would give ANYTHING to have a baby.  They long for a baby, while some view their children as anything but a blessing.

This world is ugly.  There is so much hurt.  The injustices and the hurting can be like an ocean and completely overtake you if you let it.
And I don't want to be light about it...I'm not walking any of the roads I listed above.  I don't want to pretend to understand.  I don't want to say what I would do if I was in their shoes.
So often when I am praying for these things that weigh on my heart, I think...what is the point of me counting these trivial little tiny things that are blessings through the day?  Why count blessings when the world's hurt is so overwhelming?  Doesn't that seem like I'm ignoring the ugly and just putting on a happy face?
Because...though the world is ugly, IT IS BEAUTIFUL.  Though this isn't Heaven, it IS earth.  It is our chance to enjoy the blessings God is giving us today, and long for the day the promise of Heaven will be fulfilled.  The day with no more cancer, no more death, no starving, dying children, no more infertility and miscarriage and loss.
Because if we let us, the losses and the hurt will overtake us and the truth is...even in the hurt, there is still beauty and blessings and the everyday things ARE really the big things.  And when we start to see the little things, the blessings through the day, we see how God is truly there through it all.  Not just there, but He is the everything, the reason we do what we do.  The reason there is joy and blessings, and the reason that one day the hurt will all be gone.
And when it's hard to count, when it's hard to see the joy because the hurt is blinding...then thank Him for the one thing that He has given that is far more than we deserve...salvation.  The best gift of all.