Rain.

It's a glorious sound, the echo of falling raindrops.  At one time, the sound made me cry.  It was a physical realization of the emotional feeling I dealt with.  It's surge of power drained me of all the strength I had gathered within myself.  The rain came as a bittersweet reminder of what I had become while somehow giving me permission to add my tears to the rushing rivers of water.  I would watch as the rain pelted the ground and I would grow angry with it for being so harsh.  Hadn't the Earth been through enough?  Hadn't I been through enough?

But now I sit with a sweet smile of gratitude as I listen to the drops of rain descend.  The rhythmic swell of water flowing from the heavens grants me peace.  Once seen as an enemy because of it's strength, rain is now thought of as a companion.  It has seen me through one of the most difficult times of my life.  It has given me heartache and it has given me hope.  There is no guarantee that the rain will continue or return.  I have found solace in that fact.  It forces me to enjoy every raindrop as it is in the way that it has chosen to fall in this moment.  And because I choose to enjoy it and accept it as it has come, I have found great beauty and grace in the rain.

I realize that life is much like the rain.  There is no guarantee of tomorrow and no promise of a continued moment.  If it is wasted with grief, sorrow, resentment, anger, and bitterness, the true beauty of living will be smothered and will wither away.  But if life, in this moment, is accepted as God has chosen to give it, it can truly be appreciated for the gift it is.  Don't waste your time resenting the rain; instead, find the beauty in it.  It's a blessing if you allow it to be.

"Bring me joy, bring me peace, bring the chance to be free.  Bring me anything that brings You glory.  And I know there will be days when this life brings me pain, but if that's what it takes to praise You, Jesus, bring the rain." - MercyMe.