I just saw a quote today that perfectly described a friend I spent part of the day with.

“Perhaps the butterfly is proof that you can go through a great deal of darkness yet become something beautiful”. 

This describes her to a “T” as this is a woman who has dealt with many blows during her life, so many in fact that no one would blame her if she was angry and bitter towards the world.  She is the epitome of the question, why do bad things happen to good people?  She might even be considered a modern day Job.  But just like Job, while she may question once in a while, she has always looked to God for strength and has given thanks for the good things she has.

Instead of becoming bitter, she has become more empathetic and understanding.  She spends time serving others and doing what she is most passionate about – teaching.  She loves her children and they love her.  She continues to want to make the world a better place and does whatever she can for anyone who has less than she has and inspires her students to do the same.  She doesn’t just send them out to do it but is a living example to them as she joins them in serving others.

She opens her home to students and continues to mentor them after graduation when they seek advice, need to vent or need food.  Quiet and unassuming, this is just the way she believes life should be – sharing the best of yourself with others, not dwelling on yourself and your own problems.  A lesson we could all take to heart.

And while you might think she is this overly pious serious woman, I have to share that part of our day today was spent trying on sunglasses and laughing at each other as well as encouraging each other when something looked great, challenging each other to step out of our usual humdrum comfort zone of plain practicality.  After all, as she has found out, you only live once and she is slowly learning how to embrace life for all it’s worth.  This is hard for a person who tends to only think of others, to spend time doing things for yourself, but with encouragement and faith, she is beginning to step into new adventures.

Our current culture would encourage her to forget everyone else – she has earned the right to just think of herself.  After all, look at all she has gone through.  It certainly seems to be a great excuse to only think of your own wants and needs.  But imagine if everyone took the bad things, the rough patches, the pain they experienced in their lives and turned it into good for others.  How might that change our world?

I had a little talk with my 5th graders the other day about how powerful lyrics can be in songs.  I asked the question, if you look at lyrics of the songs you listen to today, are they reflecting the culture or are they trying to change the culture?  Some of the kids referred to a couple of songs addressing suicide and how they encourage young people to just wait another day and seek help.  Certainly a way to help change of culture of young people people taking their lives.  One young man in my class has experienced that with a family member and I was concerned that this would adversely affect him so I shared with them that I believe that in this life, we are allowed to go through certain things so that we in turn could help people who have gone through the same things.  We could be that empathetic ear of someone who has lived through the same situation and survived.  it’s a powerful message and one that can bring people together.  I hope it helped him think of how he can take this advice to heart and help others. This is certainly a lesson my friend has embraced in her life journey.

So tonight, as I am counting my blessings, I am grateful to my friend who has taught me that there is beauty after darkness.  Beauty that comes from a life willing to care for others.