For a while now I’ve been following Barn Own Primitives on Instagram. I love these cute handpainted signs Kristi makes. One day while I was flipping through my feed, I saw a sign she shared I hadn’t seen before:

It was like seeing something I’d been feeling for so long encapsulated in this one beautiful piece. “I believe there is Beauty in Brokenness” These are words I believe to be so, so true. We are all broken in some way. Metaphorically, literally. I feel broken because my body can’t do what it’s supposed to be able to do. And the medications I’m on to counter it make me feel broken too. Not to mention any daily shortcoming that leads me to feel less than adequate… broken human beings – that’s what we are.

But this brokenness and how we deal with it – it’s what shapes us as individuals. Life happens, and it breaks us – again and again. And each time we are rebuilt as something new and more beautiful than before… stronger but softer at the same time. Can you tell how much I love this sign and how much it means to me?

So I shared the picture on my Instagram account as a promise to myself to buy it. (And to share Krist’s work because I think amazing things should be shared.) I shared it because I wanted to remind myself of this message and share it with anyone else who might need to see it. I never expected what followed…

A day or so after I shared this image on my account, I got a message in my inbox from Kristi at Barn Owl Primitives asking for my address:

Needless to say – I was shocked, humbled, excited, curious… Of course I had to ask if I could know who was sending it. But the response was. “It’s a surprise.” So I waited with excitement and curiosity for the day this gift would arrive at my door and the identity of my mystery gifter would be revealed!

The day came and the package arrived and this note was taped to the front:

My mystery friend is remaining a mystery. I want so much to be able to reach out and hug this person and tell her how incredibly grateful I am. But I can’t do that. So if my friend I haven’t met (yet) is reading this – I hope I meet you one day. I hope I can thank you in person and give you the biggest, most thankful hug I can. I’ll be honest though friend – I probably will cry. So I hope that’s okay 😉

On the day the sign arrive though – I didn’t cry… okay that’s not true – I just didn’t cry right away. I had been thinking about where I would put the sign. I wanted it to be in a place where I could see it everyday. Where I could be reminded of it’s message. I thought about putting it in our bedroom, but I also wanted it to be in a place where others could see it too. I walked around the house with this sign held next to my heart. And Ryan stopped me… “what about outside the room that will be the baby’s?”

That, my friends, is when the tears started. The thought of this beautiful sign, it’s message, who sent it, everything about it – being outside of the room of our someday child – made me melt into a puddle of tears. Happy tears of course. So this is where it hangs. Just outside of our future child’s room, visible for all to see from our living room and clearly visible from my spot on the couch where I’m sitting typing this blog post for all of you.

So when you come visit you may get to see this beautiful reminder hanging on my wall. And if you love this sign as much as I do – go check out Kristi’s site: http://barnowlprimitives.com/. Her work is gorgeous!

And to my mystery friend – once again – thank you! You have touched me in ways you probably don’t fully comprehend. Everyday I look at this sign and feel encouraged and reminded that there is beauty is this brokenness – even if I don’t always see it. We may not have met – but I love you sweet lady. And I hope today finds you full of happiness and abundant joy! Stay beautiful, my friend!