Dancing in the Storm

Did you ever wonder why there seems to be a golden beam falling on some people and a dark cloud over others?  Do some people naturally draw the flicker of light or, like a leashed dog, pull the dark cloud behind them?  Some people think it's only one or the other, but the reality is that each one of us experiences the good and bad, the funny and freaky, the "you're so lucky" and "can one more thing happen?"  life has to offer.  How you react to each opportunity - for yes, it IS an opportunity to grow and learn as a person - sends messages to those around you, albeit family members or neighbors and friends.

We live in a time when social media spreads news as quickly as jam on toast (at least, the way I slap it on toast!).  What we choose to share  gives a glimpse through our window called life.  Me - I share life - from the lovely to the dull and things in-between - not EVERYTHING, but those things for which I'm willing to rub a clean spot on the window through which to peer.  Sometimes I try to be witty, other times I just lay it out there.  What people tend to remember, though, are the struggles, the junk, the "can one more thing happen" moments.

I recently shared about the torsion spring on our garage door breaking at 4:22 am, with a *BOOM* so loud that it rattled the walls of my room.  That came after sharing that my van broke down, and all the accompanying struggles that went with it.  I have people commenting about all of the atrocities we endure, or how they can't believe the weird things that happen to us.  Yet, if I go back through posts I made before the van breaking down, they are about birthdays, school days, running races I've been in, prayers I'm offering, Little League Championships, wisdom teeth extractions, and accomplishments of my kids.  My last dark cloud post since Sept? - - May 14th.  There are so many golden beam moments, so many positive statements, and yet - - I "should write a book" because of all of the freaky things that happen to us.  I laughed at this and thought, "What a good idea" - and it's actually the reason that I'm back to blogging.  But it also got me thinking that I don't think we, as a family,  encounter any more "freaky" things than most other people.  Is it that I'm more willing to share it with others, to laugh at adversity, because it brings with it a sense of "I'm not alone"?  Don't we all (no matter how much we try to convince ourselves otherwise) inwardly appreciate that someone else is having a hardship and thanking God that it's not us?  I'm not talking about illness or devastation, but the small stuff….(don't sweat the small stuff sweetie!)

I like to think that my small stuff helps others realize that there is always, and yes, I mean ALWAYS, someone else who the dark cloud is visiting that day.  It doesn't bother me that it's here, over my house, because I know that it ALWAYS moves on.  And just like the weather, it will always come back.  It's how you prepare and react to it that will draw people to your window to peer in…and fortunately, perhaps even more appropriately, the Fed Ex man just delivered my new rain boots….I think I'm ready to dance in the next storm!