And the winner is...

MamaSoProud!!!

Thanks, MSP, for a lovely comment about the beauty you found in a flea market:

 "I was at a flea market where all the items were tarnished, cracked, bent and broken in some way; yet my eyes took in the beauty at each and every item while my heart filled with a certain peace of times gone by. The wooden rocking horse with a missing ear had me wondering what fun the child must have had riding this toy when it was new. I picked up a clay pot that was chipped along the edge, but I could smell the dirt that had once been there and in my mind saw beautiful flowers. Several years passing had caused the newborn baby bib to turn from white to yellow, but the ladybug design still made me smile. The old shoes now tattered and torn had once held a person while they traveled, laughed and loved. I look out at the world today and see hunger, financial fear, lack of faith and belief... I wish for the world to step back and take a tour thru the flea market around them. Take time to see the beauty in all things around us, and bring back memories of those cherished moments as we're taken back to better and more peaceful days. After that walk thru history, I was able to open the door and step into the world of Now - and I still find beauty!"

Also thanks to Lee for a moving story about the beauty of hope:

" A coworker spoke with tear filled eyes of a daughter who had left home in a drugged stupor and hadn’t returned. She had heard that I worked as a 12 step recovery facilitator for many years and she wondered if I had ever had any positive results. She was grasping for a straw of hope in a very devastated environment. 

Outside her office window was a young man who she had pointed out earlier as a model employee. He is always smiling as he works and goes out of his way to help others. 

I smiled as I remembered the broken lives that he and his wife had when they first came to me. They had been deep in the Meth culture for years and wanted out. And though it took a few years they are now both doing well, building lives that are full of joy and contentment. 

The hope of beauty that a parent sees in their child may be lost to poor choices for a time. Tragedy strikes in many forms that can cause physical, mental, or emotional scarring that will last a lifetime. Yet, that which mares us can also shape us into stronger, more caring individuals. None of it happens over night. Learning to see beauty in broken lives is difficult, but essential. We must see the beauty in them in order to move them past the brokenness to where they can see themselves as the beautiful person they were created to be.
And yes, when I pointed him out, more tears flowed even as hope grew."

Congratulations MamaSoProud! Your prize is on its way. 

Keep watching for those beautiful moments and letting me know about them. :)