Ouch! That's beautiful...

Well.....I was back on the same hiking trail at which this Blog was started, 11 months ago...  I was admiring the vast beauty of this huge lake, the rolling hills, and the grasslands...when, all of a sudden, my leg felt multiple stings and felt very itchy...   I looked down to find small thorns stuck in my leg in several places. 

I then looked behind me, for the culprit of this pain and itching, and saw the multiple leaves of a prairie thistle. Urgh, that darn plant!

What was it doing in my way, and interrupting MY beautiful hike!!  Then, I looked upward a bit farther, and saw the whole plant, with a very lovely large purple bloom.  And then, I noticed the amazing backdrop for this little plant:

You see, once I knelt by that plant, I noticed the extreme beauty of the WHOLE view!

It is only when brought to our knees, that we can see the meaning of the trial...

Isn't that similar to many things that we go through in our lives?  We first feel the thorns, the hurt, the pain; only later to see the beauty that comes out of it!   Each negative experience that we have in our lives; as long as we get on our knees and work through it with God at our side; has a beautiful, positive "whole picture" behind it.

I mean, wow!, this was a profound little thorny plant....to be reminding me that all that I go through each and every day, is leading to the "whole picture" of just where God wants me to be, and right where I should be! 

So there I sat, next to that prairie thistle, thanking God for this reminder that, we must run into thistles, in order to enjoy the beauty that is on the other side of them.