Sunday, March 2nd marked a historic occasion for our town of Gilbert. For the past almost five years, the mormon church has been constructing a temple. Yesterday, that temple was dedicated by our prophet, Thomas S. Monson.
In preparation for this event, the youth in our area participated in a cultural celebration on Friday night with the theme, "Live True".
In all, over 12,000 kids participated. Now… on to what happened for the actual event. This cultural celebration was the largest of it's kind in our church's history. The logistics necessary to make it happen were so complex. Because of the large number of kids participating, the venue chosen was the largest park in Gilbert (Discovery). Discovery park also doubles a critical retention basin when in rains in Arizona. Which is almost never. Accept Friday.
As the weather forecast was constantly monitored, the emails to parents started to come. "Be prepared for rain…ponchos, extra socks, warm layers" etc… And then, we all started praying. Praying the celebration could go forward, praying that the kids would have a good experience, praying that in the end, things would be okay, no matter what.
When Friday morning arrived, so did the clouds, heavy with rain. Raining everywhere. Accept Discovery park. As I stood in our garage, watching the rain pour down, I text my friend (one of the youth leaders at the park). Me, "It's pouring here:( …What about there?" My friend, "Not a drop!" I decided I had to see for myself. When I arrived at the park five minutes later, this is what I saw.
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| (you can see the kids surrounding the square they would perform in the upper center of pic) |
As few insta's courtesy of @brookesampson. Check out her page for some amazing video from the day.
Now onto what happened next. The performance was scheduled for 7:00, and at 7:00, the rain caught up with Discovery Park. It rained almost continually for the entire performance. As Gentry and I watched (through a live video broadcast because of limited seating) we keep saying, "Ahh! I can't believe it's raining! They worked so hard!" And then, I started noticing something. Yes, it was pouring rain. Yes, they were getting completely soaked. And, Yes they were smiling and laughing and living. Despite the rain. And then I was poignantly reminded of that old, well worn saying.
Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass…It's about learning to dance in the rain.
~Vivian Greene
Because Discovery Park is a retention basin, rain through out the day would have almost certainly stopped the performance. Through out the day, Discovery park remained dry. I believe everything happens for a reason. I believe our Heavenly Father knows our hearts even better than we do. And I believe, that sometimes he holds back the rain, and sometime he lets it fall. And in the end, if we trust Him, we will be able to dance, even in the rain, especially in the rain.
I choose to dance.
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