Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass

but learning to Dance in the rain

I saw this quote today and it kinda hit home. As I posted earlier, our little family has had a few storm clouds hanging over us the last few months. Some mornings it has been hard just to get out of bed and face the day. The phone rings and I don't want to answer it, and I don't even want to go to the store or talk to anyone. I have been caught up in my own pain and don't really want to face the world. But that's not what life is about.

I have been caught up in what has been going on with Ariel and my own pain, and haven't really paid much attention to Justin and how he is handling all this. A few weeks ago he had a little melt down and kinda gave me a wake-up call. Something he said to me really hit hard and gave me a little jolt. He said, "there isn't any love in our house anymore. We don't read the scriptures, we don't say family prayers or have family home evening. We need to start doing those things again and it will help us thru this." That is when I realized that I had to get up and get going with life again. It was true. It was hard to do those "family" things when part of our family was missing. It was hard to call everyone together and have an empty spot. But we still have to go on, and we have to pull together...even more now than ever.

When the clouds roll in, the thunder starts and the rains fall...we tend to hole up in our house and hide from the storm. But sometimes the storms move in to stay for a while and we can't just hide away forever. God gives us trials to strengthen us. He knows how much we can handle and sometimes we are pushed to the limit. But he is always there...we just have to reach out to him and use him as our umbrella. We have to count on him for strength to make it thru. God is there and willing to help us, but he expects us to do all we can to help ourselves. I was praying, more than I ever have. But it was a little self-absorbed. I am so thankful to Justin for waking me up and setting me straight. The storm is still here...the tears still pour down every day. But I realize, I can't wait for the storm to pass, I need to learn to get up and dance in the rain.