Without the Rain

It's easy to have fun and be happy when things go our way. When life is a party, it's easy to party. When there is no conflict, there is ease. It's easy to: smile when everyone is smiling at you, wait when the line is short and you get a good parking space, when the tax refund is double what you've anticipated or when the sun is shining and birds are singing (insert Disney fairy land music here).

The flip side.

It's hard when: things get messed up and there is a need to re-arrange your day, or when The Child is rude and disrespectful, the bills are due but the $$$ is in short supply, the Angry-distracted-driver nearly runs you off the road, the toilet clogs, it rains when you want sunshine.

I realized tonight that I've put conditions to my attitude.

Sis pulled a A- in math and I was ecstatic! LET'S PARTY!!! YAHOO!!!

Then I remembered last night. Uggg. She was fantastically struggling with homework. I was upset. I was firm. I was thinking negatively. The, I'm gonna ____ if she doesn't hurry up, kinda stuff. It's been a hard couple of weeks.

A dear friend once told me that God lets us be squeezed so He can see what's inside us; what we're made of. It's the trying times when we have the opportunity to shine. Difficult times teach us more than times of blessings. Tears change more than faces. What are you made of? I found that I wasn't made of what I thought. Thank God He enables us to change. So, when you see me smiling.....it won't be just because you are. My God is good.....always.

After all, without the rain there are no flowers. I like flowers.