Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Rain Drops & Banana Splits

"When in rains, it pours"...or "it gets worse before it gets better"...now that's a couple of sayings that I've heard too many times in the past couple of years. And every time someone would tell me that it would just linger in the air...now that can't be the most positive outlook on life can it? I remember being a junior in high school and going through a life-changing and growing experience that really changed my outlook on life. It was the first moment I truly realized down to the core that this thing we all called "life" wasn't so perfect as what I had always pictured. In other words, I wasn't going to be the winner of the MASH game and live in my mansion with my 4 kids, 2 dogs, and my red ferrari.  Every one of us eventually has that moment, and some experience it sooner than others. I had mine at 17. At the time I wasn't so happy about being so young to feel like my life had just flipped upside down. However, looking back, I'm glad I experienced what I did at that age. I was young, immature, and selfish just like most teenagers :) . But it was shortly after all that when I realized there was something more to life that I had actually been missing the whole time. I had been blindsided by all the worldy desires and my heart had been brainwashed into following some dreams that didn't matter. Things that I had made a high priority in life no longer mattered as much. I got to go to my first Christian concert about a month after my "perfect world" toppled over (Third Day to be exact--and a very awesome Christian band by the way). They started playing a song I wasn't familiar with (I had never listened to Christian music before) and I knew and felt in that very moment that I needed to change my heart--and I prayed a very long and very tearful prayer that night. I decided I wanted to be more humble, more forgiving, a nicer person, and more optimistic on life. I decided I wanted to lead by example, and learn and focus more about others rather than trying to focus so much on myself and what I always wanted. Now, I'm not saying I'm perfect and that I do all of those things all of the time. I still have my weaknesses, but at the same time I'm still grounded. I know where my heart lies--and that's with the Lord.  So I got saved at 17 and a couple months later was baptized at Meadowood Baptist Church. And seven years later I'm still able to thank God for that tough time because it led me to Him. One of my favorite series at Life Church (the church I attend now & probably will forever) was the "WHY ME?" series. Our pastor touched on a lot of hard questions and preached to us about how God can use our tough times to lead us to do good things and to be good examples. I even remember being in highschool and my mom telling me "sometimes we have to go through tough times, so we can see the good ending"---I didn't understand it so much at the time...but she was right on target! There have definitely been some tough times in my life and I'm sure a lot more to come down the road, but my hope and positivity comes from God's promises. In the Bible Psalm 34 17-18 says "The Lord hears his people when they call to him for help. He rescues them from all their troubles. The Lord is close to the brokenhearted; he rescues those who are crushed in spirit." Through my life and all the obstacles that have come with it, there have been many times where I have been so brokenhearted and have turned to those four lines. The other day I was driving in my car and a song came over the radio called "Blessings" by Laura Story. It finally gave me a whole new outlook on the raining and pouring saying I mentioned in the beginning of this post. Sometimes that saying can be taken in a negative connotation that when one bad thing happens, numerous ones are to follow. In this song Laura Story sings about our blessings and how they are often in disguise. The chorus of the song is 

Cause what if your blessings come through raindropsWhat if Your healing comes through tearsWhat if a thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know You're nearWhat if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise

And my favorite part...

What if my greatest disappointmentsOr the aching of this lifeIs the revealing of a greater thirst this world can't satisfyWhat if trials of this lifeThe rain, the storms, the hardest nightsAre your mercies in disguise

Some of my rain drops I didn't understand, but do now. Some of them I was even scared of, but not anymore, and I've even had some that I wasn't proud of, but I am now. Let's take Kannon for example. Before he was here he was the biggest and scariest rain drop I'd ever seen coming at me....but it turned out he was the most innocent, precious, and sweet little rain drop (that came with 11 little piggies, busy hands, and blue glasses) that I'd always wanted! We don't take a day for granted with our little drop. Which leads me to my next part of my blog....banana splits! Sounds yummy right? If you haven't seen it on yahoo today or on Facebook here is the story of a mom who's son has down syndrome. Her and her husband have recently signed a DNR after finding out from the doctors that they could no longer do anything for Ryan's (the little boy) congenital heart defect. The one thing she asked is for parents to not take one single day for granted with their kids....to let them eat a banana split for dinner. SO they are having a banana split party for Ryan and would like everyone to post a picture with their kids eating their dessert for dinner! So with that being said, let's have a little fun with our little rain drops and go eat a banana split for dinner! We did! :)




To read about Ryan's Story click here