Beauty and the Rocks

Finding hope in the midst of hard times

I am a dance mom. I also serve a church full-time in the area of faith formation. I hate missing Sundays in that role, but the role of dance mom takes precedence a few Sundays of the year. Today is one of those days. So after I dropped off my daughter at her dance convention, I went in search of a place to pray and spend time in the beauty of God's world.

What I found was the Columbia Canal Diversion Dam. This is the northern tip of the historic Riverfront Park in Columbia, SC. This park includes both the Broad and Congaree Rivers. And as I type, I am enjoying a beautiful fall day with a cool breeze, leaves fluttering from the trees, various birds soaring and splashing, and water flowing over the dam with a commanding sound of rushing water followed by the lazy and gentle ripples down the rocky riverbed.

As I was walking across the footbridge, taking in the rusty gears of the locks and the rock wall construction, I noticed the growth within the rocks. I am always fascinated by sprouts that are so determined that they make a space for beauty in an inhospitable space for growth.

This has been a season of difficult diagnoses, pain, and grief for many who came to mind in my walk today. And as I have journeyed this season alongside members and friends in these rocky times, I have held fast (most days) to the knowledge that God has something beautiful in store. That is hard when a friend is diagnosed with breast cancer, or people I love disagree about church issues, or a friend unexpectedly loses someone they could never imagine doing life without. But God…

I have to believe that, just like these glimpses of beauty in the rocks, God has something in store.

Look! I’m doing a new thing;
    now it sprouts up; don’t you recognize it?
I’m making a way in the desert,
    paths in the wilderness.

Isaiah 43:19 (CEB)

As a person of faith, I am being encouraged that God has beautiful things in store, even in the rocky places and times. And I am thankful for time outside with God today to give me visual reminders of this on my faith journey. Thanks for traveling with me!

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More for the journey…

Go outside and find something beautiful amidst a hard/rocky place. Spend time praying, living in hope for all those going through hard times.