The more I experience life, the more I appreciate the unexplainable. I’ve been trying to teach Francois some of the nuances of the love I feel for my wife. Not an easy task, especially when explaining to an 18-year-old Rwandan boy from the village that’s never experienced love.

When he asked me what it’s like to love Ilea, I said, “I could spend the whole night explaining the things I love about her, but I could not explain what I feel in my heart. It’s unexplainable, beyond my words”. This resulted in hours of conversation that has continued since.

The love I feel for my wife is not something I have the ability to articulate in its entirety. If Shakespeare struggled with it, I doubt I’m going to nail it. I don’t have the words to encapsulate it.

The feeling I get from sitting on the beach, overlooking the Indian Ocean with Africa as the backdrop is more magnificent than I could ever describe. When Francois chooses to serve someone else for no other reason than him seeing a need and wanting to help, I am overwhelmed with joy and gratitude that I am a part of his journey.

Seeing a pregnant mama, knowing that she is choosing to grow a little human inside her womb; that is unexplainable. It’s beauty at it’s purest.

The feeling I get after a hard day of work or a finishing a major project is something I value above most all other feelings. The feeling of understanding your purpose, fulfilling your calling and serving others is more profound than I can explain.

The miracle of how we were created, unique in every way. The way someone can live as profoundly and powerfully as the likes of Mandela, Maya Angelou, Gandhi, Mother Theresa and Bono; that is beyond explanation.

In my experience, the greatest things in life are the ones we have the most difficulty explaining. Francois had a hard time understanding that at first. He wanted to know why. How does that make sense? I explained that it doesn’t have to make sense at all. The true gift is when we can recognize the beauty in something that is beyond explanation.

When you can recognize the beauty in the unexplainable, you’ve found something truly extraordinary. I find it in my relationships with my wife, with Francois, my family, the ocean, Africa, the stars, the moon and in serving others.

It is no longer my desire to figure everything out or find a way for A + B to = C. I’ve learned to appreciate the unexplainable beauty in life. There is a great peace that comes from that. And from that, I find more joy than I ever did from trying to quantify and reconcile life.

There is great beauty is in the unexplainable.

I am diligent about being aware and in tune with my surroundings. I appreciate the little things that often go unnoticed. I take time to “smell the roses” and listen to the world around me. But every now and then, something hits me from out of the blue; something so magnificent and beautiful it causes me to pause and really soak it in.

I was recently at a concert where the ten piece band played with such extreme emotion that it whisked me away into one of the surreal places. Music has always been a very soulful experience for me; it moves me.

While standing there swaying and watching the images of art and beauty projected on the wall, I drifted away, basking in the beauty of sound and unity amongst the crowd. We were one, if for only a couple hours.

I reflected on the beautiful things in my life. Not just the images, but the experiences, like that all encompassing feeling of love I feel when I see my wife at the airport after being away for a few days. That surreal moment of sitting on Lake Kivu (Congo) with friends, watching the red glow of an 18,000 foot volcano flanked by the full moon over the lake.

There are times when I physically feel the intensity of God’s beauty and power around me. It’s always there, always available. And no matter how often it happens, every now and then…POW. It hits me, and I’m in awe. I love that.