Beauty in the Storm

I have had this blog on my mind for over a week, but the time to sit down and write it has been hard to find. I found that there are some moments in life that you shouldn't let pass you by. I know that not everyone understands the way I love storms, unless they live in Arizona.
On my way to work the other day I was driving into a storm. The dark night was momentarily lit up by the lightning that ran across the sky. I could see the clouds as if it were day with the light behind it. Each time the sky lit up it was a different area of cloud. The white and gray vanished into the night as soon as the lightning disappeared. The outline of each cloud, the unpredictability of lightning was indescribable. I tried to pull over and take a picture but I couldn't manage to get it for that split second.
I was unable to capture that moment and it stayed with me all day. I went home and all I could think about when I drove home was that storm. The drive home became a whole new part of my story. I captured a rainbow as I drove. The light of it was beautiful, and I smiled as I drove. It only got better, since I had a long drive home I passed the first rainbow.  I was in awe when I drove up on another rainbow, it was more beautiful and brighter than the first one. Then I caught a glimpse of another one right behind it. Now I was in shock and awe, it's not very often you see a double rainbow. I drove for a little while and then I caught a glimpse of another rainbow. With all the rainbows around I didn't know what was going on. Then behind it was another one, another double rainbow. I couldn't believe my eyes.
Then I saw it, the two double rainbows were really one double rainbow. It was so large it was hard to see it all. The wave of emotion passed over me and I admired the beauty. It made me think of what the rainbow really stood for, it's God's promise. He promised that no matter what the storm brings He promises not to drown us. How amazing is that, the storm may rage all around us, but at the end is a rainbow.
This rainbow followed me all the way home and I couldn't help but relish in the awesomeness of God who brought this all about. The gift of a rainbow is more than just prisms of life, it's a promise. I'm going to hold on to the promise. 

What now God?

There comes a place in life where you have faced some of your giants and come out on the other side. There are scars, there are pains, but you went through it and you survived. I look back and see how far I've come and I continue to be amazed at what God has done in my life. The only thing for me to do is to keep moving forward and living this life I have been blessed with.
We don't often think of trying circumstances building of character when we are going through them but when we look back it's those moments that shape us and make us into who we are. So here I stand on the other side of my trials, my Jordan river and wonder what now. It's those days when everything is going just great and the world is a happy place when you wonder, what's going to happen next? It's not easy to sit and just live in such joy because without trials our lives seem off kilter. It's not that I want to go through trials but each time I do it makes me that much better.
It only took a couple of days of wondering what's next until things started to go awry.
In one day two of my dearest friends each lost someone who was close to them, in different ways. Each of them knew it was coming but it didn't lessen the pain or take away the hurt. It hurt my heart because I wanted to be there for them but there was only so much I could do, and I felt like it wasn't enough. A few days later it seemed that there was still more. My weekend had been great, I was in a great mood Monday morning and then it hit me. A migraine like a load of bricks, I have struggled with them throughout my life and often I just push through them but this one was different. I was laid out flat on my couch until I couldn't put off my schoolwork anymore. I did my homework and got it in before it was due, all the while wanting to puke. Needless to say I did not make it to school the next morning. I seemed to be fine if I didn't sit up.
Only after 4 days did I start to feel better and you would think that would be the end of it. That night turned out to be the busiest night at work I had seen in all the time I had been there. One thing would come up, then another and it just seemed to be never ending. A call would come up and I would think to myself what now? I know that I didn't sign up for an easy job and I knew that there would be days that would be stressful. Did I quit? Of course not. Did I want to give up? Absolutely not! I just kept doing what I knew to do, with the tools I had been given.
That's how it is with everyday, there are good days and bad. We don't know what is going to happen next or how it will effect us but we press on. I know it won't always be easy but I keep going and keep sharing my life because I live with the hope that maybe, just maybe someone will hear my story and it will help them somehow.
As I sit here and write the migraine throbs in the back of my head reminding me that it has not gone away. Perhaps I have come to expect pain in life so I just ignore it and continue on. The one thing I won't let it do is get me down. It may take me down physically, and I may whine a little but it's okay. I have so much to be thankful for in my life that these things can't take away the joy that I have. God is doing great and wonderful things in my life and I am excited to see what happens. I stand on the promise that was given to me from Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the plans I have for you" declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." I'm starting to see that promise and I keep holding onto it because I know that God keeps his promises.