There is beauty all around us. The question is, will we take the time to see it? This is especially challenging when you live in place like, say, Sebring, Florida. You see, I have spent way too much time smack-talking Sebring, and that habit has to end now. Part of the problem is that when it comes to Sebring, I have played the comparison game. Before I moved down to Sebring, I lived in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Now there are many that would say that the Midwest has nothing on Florida, but I had grown to love the perks of living in a cosmopolitan city with live music every night of the week, delicious eateries on every corner of every quaint little neighborhood within the city limits, world-class art museums and lake-laden parks. Of course, what my selective memory is conveniently choosing to leave out is the winter that lasts until May, and the fact that after 4 years there, I really was ready to move on to the next season of life somewhere else. But as I journeyed down to Sebring, I was absolutely assured that God had called me to take this step of faith out towards an uncertain future about which all I knew was that I would be attending a small Bible school, and that it was in central Florida. Once I was here it was easy to get caught up in the superficial reasons why this new place didn’t compare to the old. First of all, living in central Florida in August is like living under a giant steaming hot washcloth. Also, the median age of the population of Sebring is 79… which means that everything there is to do or eat in this town is aimed to please that predominant age group. The only reason Sebring would be a destination to you is if you were looking to retire in the luxury of a 55 and older trailer park. Ok, before I get carried away, I better start getting to the positive part… which is my point in all this. As I started to detox from the city life and settle into life in small town, I began to think about things differently. Here I was in this seemingly un-exciting place, and yet God was revolutionizing my world through the time I was taking to do nothing but dive into the study of the Bible. Sebring was the perfect setting for this internal revolution because there was no distraction of the cosmopolitan on my doorstep. God has something special for this town; I believe He uses it in the way he used “the wilderness” in many Biblical accounts… to get people out of their norm, to get their attention, to get them away from the distractions of life in order to make them aware of a greater call on their lives (see Abraham, Moses, Jesus… to name a few). Sebring has become an extremely special place to me and to many others like me.

Sebring may be a sleepy town, but it hasn’t yet fallen asleep. David and I live in the little historical down town district of Sebring where buildings from the 1920′s and old lamp posts encircle a lush garden and an often busy traffic circle. Unfortunately, most of the buildings are vacant or filled with businesses that don’t attract much foot traffic. But there is definitely a lot of charm and with a little TLC, there could be some life happening down here.

The longer we live here the more we begin to feel that we want to invest in a community, not just live there and take up space. Our eyes have been opened to see opportunities instead of vacancies; potential instead of a lost cause. Instead of wishing someone else would do it, we are feeling compelled to be the change we want to see and bring vibrancy back to this place God has planted us. One of many lessons God has taught me in Sebring is that a place is a place, and that what really makes a thriving community is people, and how committed they are to investing in that community. Sebring is where God has planted us for now. We could hold our breath and hold onto old dreams, but that will hold us back from the present ones, and those are beautiful as well. So we plan to dive in and commit to the community of PEOPLE that is Sebring. One of the ways I have been trying to make this mindset a reality for me is to look for little moments of beauty that I see around me here in Sebring. It’s been fun to post these to facebook and see how people have responded, that these photos have helped them to see the beauty as well. The photos in this post are a few of that project. I hope to post more regarding my #lookingforbeautyinsebring efforts in the future. Let’s open our eyes to see that He is good and His majesty is displayed in the world around us! May you begin to notice the beauty wherever God has planted you right now.