"Truly, Life is Beautiful"

***Warning: Very Cheesy Religiousy Post Below! Continue on in full awareness of your own cheese/religion tolerance!***

"Truly, life is beautiful." It was those words that were the final line of the opening segment of today's Sunday School lesson for church. When I read them I thought to my tired but happy self, "Yes, it really is." The lesson was so perfect after a week like last week. It talked about finding strength, and even joy, in adversity, through our knowledge of God's love for us, and our faith in Him and His Son. I hope that is a lesson I live amid my challenges. I try to at least. That is why we spend a lot of time laughing at our frustrations and discouragements, like last weeks posts, and trying to see the good among, during, inside and around the bad.

Recently, one of the missionaries we write to emailed home with a great quote. It is the favorite quote of his mother's, who fought and won a battle with breast cancer last year, only to have them find a brain tumor shortly thereafter which she fights today. "Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass, it's about learning to dance in the rain." We will all face our storms, but there is always happiness, joy and learning to be found, even in the storms, isn't there? I know it.

Not that last week was such a huge storm. More like a teeny drizzle. I am sure I have bigger ones to come! I will have four teenaged boys all at one time. yipes. But, even though I feel like a total cheeseball, I needed to share these thoughts. Because I just love when those messages hit home. Because I love when they come at just the right moment. Because our Father in Heaven knows we need it. He knows and loves each of us uniquely and individually. I love those times when it is so obvious.

So, even though I seem to keep thinking that the throwing up has ended, but it has not (although with this one, there is no family member left who has not yet had it to take down so it's GOT to be over now, right?). And three days after Josh's last sick moment (that's a long incubation period). And no two boys seemed to contract this thing at the same time (it's been like watching dominoes). Luke decided he didn't want to be left out of the fun, so he proceeded to follow in his poor brothers' footsteps with the barfing. Even with all this stuff. It is a beautiful life when you look around you. Really, it is.

• Since I left for church early to go to choir practice, when Adam called to tell me Luke had gotten sick, I was at already at church, so he told me to stay...without anyone I had to entertain...or keep quiet. So I actually got to hear some very good talks on prayer.
• I got to listen to the cute little girl sitting in the pew behind me sing sweet little songs during that hour. It was heart-warming!
• Adam brought the other boys up to go to Sunday School classes after our first hour of meetings, so I went home to take care of Luke. I got to rock him all the way to sleep and then just held onto him for awhile, snuggling in our favorite chair reading a good book. No more barf. That's the life.
• Josh just told me the most rediculous string of knock-knock jokes, such as "Knock, knock. Who's there? Duck. Duck who? Duck, I'm your friend, so let's blahblahjibberishididn'tunderstand!" And then he let's out the most heartly laugh, you can't help but think that the joke is the funniest thing ever. There are seven various forms of this joke, inserting various farm animals.

That's what I am talking about. Beautiful.

I am grateful for this beautiful life. I am so glad to have the knowledge that, even when life is hard, there is a path laid out for us by our loving God, who never forgets us. We just need to seek out that path and find joy in the journey! And when the journey is too hard, or too disappointing, and it seems impossible to find the beauty, it is still there. The beauty that we are loved, we are not alone, we are known, that comfort is near is always there.

**Oh! I wanted to assuage any fears of our family falling through thin ice from this post. At no time did we walk across ice that had running or still water that was not completely frozen beneath it. We could hear places where the creek and waterfall were running under the ice, but we did not walk on those places. The ice we were on the whole time was ice that had frozen over the path and was not part of the creek. The creek was covered by a bridge, so when we did go over the ice-covered creek, there was a bridge between us and the ice. No worries gang! Sorry to cause any extra stress or concern, especially for you, Mom and Al.