This was a day of beauty. It began early at the wedding of my nephew and his beautiful bride. Strikingly beautiful, really. Fairytale like loveliness. And a beautiful ceremony. Although I didn’t really know David’s bride very well, it became clear this morning that her beauty runs deep.

And speaking of beauty running deep, I got a chance to reunite with David’s sister, Brooke, who just returned from Singapore where she’s been serving as a missionary for 18 months. Brooke has always been a classic beauty (think a young Brooke Shields to get a bit of a visual image) and yet seeing her this morning there was so much more to her than that gorgeous visual image. Her spirit beamed out of her eyes and in every word she spoke.

At the wedding brunch I was surrounded by beautiful children. The newest arrival to the group was Grace, David’s niece, scheduled to be blessed tomorrow at church at the same meeting Brooke will be reporting on her mission. I could not just see but actually feel the precious beauty of a little one so serene, and (I believe) so recently in the presence of the Creator of everything beautiful in the universe. It gives one hope for the future of the world.

And speaking of hope for the future of the world, this evening I filled in as MC for the Miss Davis County Pageant (part of the Miss Utah, Miss America competition). It was a last minute request from our cousin who was in charge of the event and desperate because their scheduled MC couldn’t make it. The 12 young women in the competition were wonderful, and graceful under pressure. I was impressed by their beauty, but more impressed by their desire to serve as reflected in their platforms.

But the MOST beautiful part of the evening came just before the voting. Each contestant was escorted by a family member (mostly fathers) for their final evening gown walk across the stage as I read the words their families had prepared about their beloved daughter. I’m an emotional guy anyway, but this really got me. I was remembering when my own daughter Meggan was in the Wasatch County version of this same pageant, and it was a struggle to keep my composure as I read those parental letters to those beautiful girls.

I gave each contestant a signed copy of MISSION TO BE HAPPY, not because they needed my songs to remember how to choose happiness in their lives, but because they had given me so much joy in just being with them.

I didn’t get home until late. I am exhausted and fighting some bug that’s been invading the McLean household, but I am grateful for the gift of this day of so much beauty.

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