Blog – 6-7-19 Wednesday John and I spent the afternoon and evening in Sioux Falls celebrating our son Christopher’s birthday. He wanted us to see the falls since they were flowing so heavily because of all the flooding in South Dakota. I have to say, they were absolutely breathtaking. The falls usually aren’t this powerful. They’re always pretty, but they’re flowing much harder than normal because of all the rain and flooding. As I thought about how beautiful they were, I realized that the beauty I was witnessing came because of the tragedy upriver. The Big Sioux River that feeds the falls is at the highest level it’s been since 1969. There is widespread flooding all along its path. At last count, only 44 percent of the farmland in South Dakota is planted because of flooding. That’s tragic. Yet on the flip side of all this hardship, the falls are beautiful because of all the flooding. Isn’t that sometimes how life goes. Sometimes the tragedies are what lead to the beauty. The tragedy of Jesus hanging in disgrace on the cross, the brutal beating he endured, the betrayal he suffered from his friends are all horrific. It’s tragedy at its worst. Yet the other side of that tragedy holds the most beautiful thing ever, the power of the resurrection! Salvation available for each of us. A chance to be transformed and restored to wholeness and beauty by the grace and love that tragic cross represents. I think about some of the tragedies in my life that have yielded beauty as well. My years of infertility led to adopting my sons, Christopher and Samuel. I wouldn’t change that for the world. My divorce, as tragic as it felt at the time, led me to my husband John, the rock in my life. I can’t imagine my life without him. God also revealed an even deeper truth to me in this situation. The drop of water that flows by those flooded fields, past the basements full of water, past the devastation, has no idea as it simply flows along the path nature is taking it that it will eventually be a part of something beautiful when it reaches the falls. It has to go through the tragedy to get to the beautiful. That’s an image I want to try and keep firmly planted in my mind as I live in the ebb and flow of life. I may not see the beauty up ahead as I’m flowing through the hard, but my Heavenly Father does. He knows the path I’m going on will ultimately lead to beauty that is overflowing. The truth is, every single one of our paths as believers will lead us to the most beautiful place imaginable….heaven! A place where beauty will be beyond our wildest dreams! The peace we will feel will surpass anything we thought possible. Every tear we’ve shed to get us there, each one of those tiny drops of water, will be forgotten as we sit in the presence of our Savior. If you’re experiencing the flooding right now, if you’re in the midst of the tragedy, be encouraged and remember the beauty that awaits on the other side! Hugs and love, Jill