Paper stars

Paper stars remind me of a few things. 1) Jessie and Mary Grace’s dorm room junior year, 2) The Christmas morning scene in Little Women, and 3) The three Musketeers scene in The Holiday.

Over Christmas break I have made lots of paper stars, and I have to say I have thoroughly enjoyed spending time on the simple task that is crafting. Hobby Lobby has been the most reliable friend for my craft box and our carpet at home has been patient to take in a lot of glitter. There is a childlike wonder and joy in the small, ordinary things. In coloring each star a different color and getting washable marker all over your fingers. In using a little too much glue. In coating each star in gold glitter. In tying each star onto a thin piece of ribbon, and in laying the long paper star strand on my dresser, adding a lovely bit of character to my room. Oh, the beauty of art and the character that it brings.

During the end of fall semester, a couple of my dearest friends and I had dinner at a quaint little restaurant in English Village and talked about lots of good things — what we want to be when we grow up, what we think heaven will sound like, and a poem called the Patience of Ordinary Things by Pat Schneider. As I continue to grow up, which is one of my not so favorite things, I have realized how touched I am by the ordinary.

Paper stars, natural light seeping through a window, the orange color of the leaves in the fall. The fresh smell of laundry. A short part of a song that always gives me chills simply because of the way it makes me feel. The grandeur of a mountain and the calm of the water near the road. The ordinary things are the ones that are so quickly looked over because they are the normal, but I truly think that is where I see the hands of our Maker the most. Our God so kindly places these things in front of us to see, hear, feel, taste, and touch and oh the joy. To be reminded of the goodness and the glory of our Father.

A small journal from the joy of some paper stars.

Carolyne Rowell