I owe you more than a few posts here. But I’m going to start with the one I started writing in my head on the second day of our vacation.
As we were driving across Washington state along interstate 90, we were confronted with our lack of knowledge of the state’s geography. We were in the midst of a very dry, dead-looking region, filled with sage brush and rock and looking very much like I assumed all of Texas would before we moved here. Then we rounded a curve and ran smack into a view of a huge mountain in the distance! Thanks to smart phones we could quickly remedy our ignorance and discovered the peak was none other than Mount Rainier.
The view coincided with a song on the iPod we had hooked up to the car stereo, Steven Curtis Chapman’s title song from the album Beauty Will Rise (written after his daughter died). The song says it all:
It was the day the world went wrong
I screamed til my voice was gone
And watched through the tears as everything
Came crashing down
Slowly panic turns to pain
As we awake to what remains
And sift through the ashes
That are left behind
But buried deep beneath
All our broken dreams we have this hope
Out of these ashes beauty will rise
And we will dance among the ruins
We will see it with our own eyes
Out of these ashes beauty will rise
For we know joy is coming in the morning
In the morning, beauty will rise
So take another breath for now
And let the tears come washing down
And if you can’t believe, I will believe for you
Cause I have seen the signs of spring
Just watch and see
Out of these ashes beauty will rise
And we will dance among the ruins
We will see it with our own eyes
Out of these ashes beauty will rise
For we know joy is coming in the morning
In the morning
I can hear it in the distance
And it’s not too far away
It’s the music and the laughter
Of a wedding and a feast
I can almost feel the hand of God
Reaching for my face to wipe the tears away
You say it’s time to make everything new
Make it all new
This is our hope
This is a promise
This is our hope
This is a promise
It will take our breath away
To see the beauty that’s been made
Out of the ashes, out of the ashes
It will take our breath away
To see the beauty that He’s made
Out of the ashes, out of the ashes
Out of these ashes
Beauty will rise
And we will dance among the ruins
We will see it with our own eyes
Out of this darkness
New light will shine
And we’ll know the joy that’s coming in the morning
In the morning
Beauty will rise
Oh, beauty will rise
Oh, oh, oh, beauty will rise
Oh, oh, oh, beauty will rise
Oh, oh, oh, beauty will rise
Blooming Joy! 
Thanks for sharing this post. It seems very fitting to your situation. I’m glad that you got to experience the beauty of Mount Ranier. I’m sure the view was spectacular. I saw it as a child so I don’t remember it well. I do see pictures that my parents took. Hope you are enjoying your vacation, or if it is over now that you had a great time.
Blessings,
AH, yes, Steven Curtis Chapman. Seems like everything of his I hear is always appropriate for whatever I feel and need at the time – he’s one of God’s go-to people in my life, for sure. Glad he does it for you, too.
And, as you guys were heading out to vacation, coincidentally (coincidence? I think not!!) I was thinking:
Saddle up your horses,
We’ve got a trail to blaze
Across the wild blue yonder
Of God’s Amazing Grace … !
I am glad you had a great adventure in the great unknown with our Savior!
Jim