Storms

It stormed today in Phoenix. Rain is highly unusual here but when it rains, everyone knows it! I was in a class today, and just as our lunch hour started, so did the rain. I sat outside under an awning so I could be close to it. It’s so nice to smell the wetness and feel the cool prickles on my skin as it splashed in to my small, protected area.

Because I was in class through most of it, I didn’t realize it had hailed until I started seeing and hearing weather reports. In fact, there was quite a bit of damage from that hail. And yet, people in Phoenix are rejoicing, because rain is a phenomenon here.

On the way home, a beautiful double rainbow arched completely across the sky over the highway, one end of it in the mountain to the north, and the other landing somewhere in the city. It was amazingly vibrant – every color vividly shining – and I felt my heart lift with ecstasy at the sight of it.

I stopped in at our store on the way home and found that it had rained so hard, it had come in under the back door and soaked the rug. Luckily there was no merchandise in that part of the store. I had no idea that the small crack under the door could let in that much water!

I am left with the thought of the beauty of that rainbow, of the smell of those first droplets, of the joy of the rain; and conversely with the damage that ensued, including broken windows, felled trees, and much more, including our own incident with the soaked carpet, and I realize that life is like this. There are moments that try our patience and there are moments that take our breath away with their beauty.

The real question is, how will we respond to whichever is presenting itself? For therein, I believe, lies that which we take away with us. Do we hold close to our hearts the beauty that we find as a fuel to get us through the rough spots? Do we curse the challenges or do we see the inherent goodness within them? For always there will be blessings and there will be challenges. It’s what we make of them that determines the shape of our lives.