An Empty Lake

By now you've probably seen the incredible amateur video of the 92-year old Lake Delhi dam giving way to flood waters on Saturday in eastern Iowa. Imagine waking up in one of the 900 vacation homes on the lake and discovering there's no lake! All 9-miles of the lake washed downstream flooding more homes and businesses in its path. The lake drained faster than an AIG executive taking federal bailout funds. One day you are grilling out near your dock overlooking a serene lake and the next day your looking at a giant mud bowl.

The water is gone. Much like the proverbial genie out of the bottle you can't put it back. It's lost downstream. Residents are looking to FEMA, their governor and other forms of possible relief and aid. The loss is devastating for homeowners and the businesses that rely on the presence of a full lake during the busiest season. But what next? How do you recover from such a significant loss? How do you pick up the pieces? Where do you start?

Every day people wake up to washed out lives. An event, accident, tragedy, decision, or problem causes life-giving water to drain the lake of life. Sometimes it's due to events beyond our control, but many times it's the result of our decisions, or life choices. Regardless of the cause we are empty.

It takes time to refill, renew and replenish. The Lake Delhi community will begin the process of self-examination. They will question what happened and why. They will study, reflect, and develop a plan of attack to rebuild the dam and restore the lake. Or they could make the decision to leave it and not rebuild the dam. They will seek outside counsel and input from experts and engineers. Either way, it won't happen without a lot of discussion, study, consideration and planning.

When we have life-draining experiences it's tempting to react, or host a never-ending pity party. Wise are those who pause to critically reflect on what happened. They can begin to pray and consider possible solutions as they seek outside counsel from people who have the experience, background and expertise to help them. They will learn from the experience and they will rebuild.

Nope, we can't go back to the way it was, but we can begin again and emerge even stronger as a result of reflection, prayer, counsel, hard work and intentional thinking. We can let life-draining moments cripple us, or they can serve as launchpads for the future. Wisdom, character, grit, humility and gratitude are the byproducts of learning from life-draining moments. Hope emerges when the lake runs dry.

20 My soul continually remembers it
and is bowed down within me.
21 But this I call to mind,
and therefore I have hope:

22 The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;
his mercies never come to an end;
23 they are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
24 “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul,
“therefore I will hope in him.”

(Lamentations 3:20-24, ESV)