Sometimes life does not meet our expectations. What was supposed to happen didn’t materialize, and what you got in its place is something entirely different. Yesterday was one of those days, and the outcome reminded me of a familiar metaphor, “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.” Why not? The lemonade might be delicious. Especially if you add some fresh strawberries to it.
At 5:00 a.m. on Saturday, August 31, in the quiet darkness, Kim, Bonnie, Darla, and I headed down the I-25 from Denver with great anticipation of seeing the hot air balloons lift off at Memorial Park in Colorado Springs. Halfway there, Kim realized she had forgotten her camera. She is a professional photographer and was hoping to take some great pictures. Kim let go of her disappointment, and we all continued to discuss the film industry, as Darla is a film producer and Kim’s family is also involved in the film industry.
When we arrived, the weather seemed perfectly fine for balloons to fly. However, when we made our way through the crowd of probably more than a thousand people, it was hard to locate the balloons that were supposedly scattered in the field amongst the people.
We heard the booming voice of a man on a stage across the field announcing that, due to the wind, the balloons would not be lifting off that morning. The announcer was trying his best to be optimistic about the situation. With great enthusiasm, he announced that the Sprint balloon was beginning to fill with air and would be the first one to inflate, showcasing its full glory while remaining stationary.
The crowd gathered around it, hoping to see how big it got. However, the wind deflated the balloon faster than the balloon could inflate. The announcer spoke again, saying that none of the balloons would be inflated that morning.
Here we are, with thousands of people in a field, and you wouldn’t even know it was a hot air balloon festival. There was a stage, with a man talking, a beer garden, large inflatables for the kids, food trucks, and booths. But none of us were there for those things. Disappointment showed on the faces of the people, including mine.
Yet, Kathy and Alan Hahn and their balloon crew, called Heavenbound, were not fazed by the weather grounding their balloon. We all gathered in a circle, and Kathy shared the good news of the Kingdom of God and how Jesus heals. A young man in the crew shared how he prayed with a family he met on the field who had a young boy feeling insecure about going back to school. Kathy shared about a conversation she had with a woman whom Jesus had healed. Before you know it, I’m looking around and thinking about how God knows every person in that crowd intimately.
Two years ago, I attended the same balloon festival, but I didn’t think about the crowd as much. The sky was where all my attention went. After liftoff, the sky looked like a magnificent painting, with a color palette that blended effortlessly with the floating fabrics, fluffy white clouds, and mountains. However, the painting yesterday was void of any colorful balloons, and all we saw were dark clouds forming.
Darla, the film producer among us, who is always looking for a story, decided the clouds were worthy of our attention, and she kept taking pictures of them. Then she posted on Facebook the most beautiful images of the clouds in the sky at yesterday morning’s balloon festival.
When I look at Darla’s photos, the sky is a magnificent piece of art, showcasing in perfect unity mountains, sky, and clouds, illuminated in hues of red.
Psalms 19:1 describes yesterday the best:
The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.
Although balloons were missing in Darla’s photos, her images showed me God was still declaring his glory even if the balloons didn’t.
Now, when I look back at yesterday morning with my three friends, I realize that I was drinking some pretty good lemonade. And the strawberries were delicious.
