Reflecting on who God is

I've been reading a book called Romancing Your Child's Heart by Monte Swan lately, and came across this short story by Edith Schaeffer:

There were some Africans who were with us a couple of years ago, who sat in our bedroom talking to my husband and me. Each of them had been in some sort of a mission school and now were in European universities on scholarships. Each of them at some time or another had come into the homes of missionaries and had observed various things during their boyhood. They each made a similar comment which impressed me deeply. Each of them said that the thing which had turned them away from Christianity was the lack of beauty in the missionaries' homes- and they were speaking of physical beauty. The God of the universe they saw created a beautiful world, but they did not see this beauty radiating from these Christians' homes.

Monte continues by sharing that "(These Africans) had been confused when they heard truth but saw little beauty. The God they had seen in nature was obviously a passionate Creator- an artist. An evangelistic message without a connection to the creation confused them."

Wow. I know not everyone has the ability to make everything they touch beautiful, but it is incredible to realize that even our homes have the ability to reflect God to others. I actually find that encouraging, because my nesting instinct always has me looking for ways to make our home lovelier - even if I don't currently have enough time to make those changes. . . Maybe in a few months, when things slow down . . .