Chasing the Sun

My eyes flew open at 3:30 a.m. I fought the insomnia monster until 4:30, then cried "uncle" and got up. I figured I could get in an hour or so of quiet time and work before the sun began to rise, and I would get an early start on my morning run. But, just as I opened the door to head out to pound the pavement.. the bottom fell out. Of the sky, that is. Rain, rain, and more rain. I grumped and flumped and stumped around. My first instinct was to go back to bed. That pillow looked really good. But, instead, I flipped on the TV and checked out the local weather radar. The rain was moving away from a nearby beach. So, I jumped in the car, drove across the bridge to that beach, and ended up here.

An hour later, I was exhausted, energized and even-tempered.

As I walked the last few yards for my "cool down," I breathed in the salt air, took in the white sand and the beautiful green water... and, as I stared out at the breathtaking horizon,  it occurred to me that we don't always have to give into the rainy times in our life. Sometimes, if we want to find the sunshine, we have to search for it... we have make an effort to find it... we may even have to chase it down.

And, as I turned from the beautiful Gulf of Mexico and headed toward my car, it also occurred to me that if it hadn't been raining over my head earlier this morning.. I would never have ended up on this beautiful stretch of beach. And, it occurred to me that sometimes...

rain in our life can be a blessing.