I love how such crappy situations bring forth some of the most beautiful memories... if you think about it, it's all the crap that helps us grow in ourselves, with God, and with each other.
Kind of how pretty flowers spring up from manure--horse crap--crap.
Looking at "the good and the bad" as mutually exclusive events is one way to see life... things are either good or bad... the low lows make the high highs higher.
I think that we can all agree that nothing in life is black and white like this way of thinking. I don't think the either/or perspective suffices when it comes to the beautiful and the ugly times we face in life.
There are times where the situation may be crappy, but in spite of that, there are glimpses of beauty to be discovered. They are those times that bring hope and make all the pain worth it, even if for just a brief moment.
Think back to the flower for a second.
It's a pretty flower--all big and pink... kind of like a gerber daisy.
The flower is indeed beautiful, but it is still essentially surrounded and stuck in manure... aka, crap. It's not like the flower's presence magically turns the manure into that chocolate pudding-and-crushed oreos mix that you used to get for dessert as a kid. No, it's still just a bunch of smelly dirt.
The dirt doesn't change. Instead, we just might begin to see something that we didn't see before. There is a little flower sprouting up, distinguishing itself as something beautiful.
Life is all about growing flowers amidst all the crap life throws at you.
It's about finding those flowers and appreciating their beauty because of what they are and where they are coming from. And while one flower is all we need to get started and give us something to hold on to in the tough times, it would be wrong to stop there. Keep growing flowers, keep finding all the beauty there is in life, and grow a beautiful garden filled with the blessings gained in spite of the tough times--all those good memories, good feelings, and good people that could easily be looked past if not deliberately searched for.
I love it when people find beauty in the midst of despair.
And I've discovered that a particular characteristic has developed and become more prominent in me over the past year or so:
Empathy.
When someone near and dear to me hurts, I hurt.
When they rejoice, I rejoice.
I want nothing more than for them to see the bit of light among the thick darkness, the beautiful in spite of the ugly, the break in the chaos lasting just long enough to take a breath.
And to me, empathy isn't just experiencing this with them--it is also helping them find that light, the beautiful, a moment to breathe.
From the perspective of the one inside all this mess, the one thing that can bring hope in a seemingly hopeless situation seems non-existent. Finding hope can feel like finding a needle in a hay stack--frustrating, disheartening, overwhelming, down right torture; all to the point of near surrender.
But you know what?
That needle is in the haystack, is it not?
The needle does exist... the hope does exist.
And sometimes we just need someone to dive into the haystack with us, someone to dive into the chaos with us.
Not only can they help to find the hope and beauty, but they can also share in the pain, keep you company, cheer you on...
So to me, empathy is jumping into a haystack for someone. It's joining in the chaos and helping them find the beauty when times seem like nothing but crap. And even better, it's rejoicing when they have seen a bit of that light.
and while i'm already talking about hay, i should let y'all in on a recent event... this past monday was our dorm hay ride/sqaure dance mixer at post family farms. i'm too sleepy to write it all out, so i will just copy and paste the article i wrote on it for Chimes:
A hayride gone haywire left nearly 30 Noordewier VanderWerp residents soaked and on the verge of hypothermia when their trailer tipped and dumped them into a pond on Monday night.
Cameras, cell phones, shoes, purses, ipods, and clothes were on the list of lost or damaged items resulting from the unexpected plunge into the pond, but luckily no one suffered any serious injury, according to NVW’s dorm president, Savannah Gruesbeck.
The hayride took place at Post Family Farms on a night that Noordewier resident Carolyn Affholter described as “cold—freezing!” In fact, a student had noted the temperature displayed on a bank sign to be 34 degrees Fahrenheit when driving to the farm.
A tractor pulled two trailers filled with hay and passengers around the property; Lindsey Jetter, a Noordewier resident, recalled that “it wasn’t smooth, but that’s what you expect in a hayride—a couple of bumps here and there.”
While many of the students in the rear trailer—the one that tipped—described the event as happening in “slow motion” and “surreal,” VanderWerp resident Alex Verseput described what happened from his perspective in the front trailer.
As the driver drove too close to the edge of the pond, the rear trailer began to tip to the right and kept tipping until it was standing on its side, dumping all of its passengers, according to Verseput. He had yelled to the driver to stop because the driver was unaware of what had happened.
“I was shocked, and the screams scared me,” said Verseput. Affholter was among the few passengers who were completely submerged in the freezing, murky water; not only did she get soaked, but she also found her cell phone broken due to water damage.
The students showed a mixed reaction when commenting on the handling of the situation by the farm staff. While most students, preferring not to be named, were disappointed with the slow response of the driver, others gave credit to the rest of the staff in this unexpected crisis.
Affholter explained that, once the trailer was finally flipped back over and returned to the farm, the students were directed to the farm kitchen where staff brought blankets and hot cocoa to the students as they exchanged clothes and told their version of the story.
A common opinion voiced was that of the gratitude toward fellow residents on the ride. Jetter said she was impressed by the initiative of fellow residents reacting quickly and with concern for the well-being of those cold and drenched, offering up any dry clothes they had.
Calvin College, NVW Resident Director Aaron Einfeld, and dorm president Gruesbeck are working on getting a list of lost and damaged items. While they can’t promise anything, they are working with the staff of Post Family Farms to possibly provide reimbursement for lost and damaged property, according to Gruesbeck. She also commented on the great cooperation that the farm is showing in this situation.
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