"Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass...
it's about learning to dance in the rain."
I have been thinking about this quote for a little bit. And the more I think about it the more I find it to be very true. Life isn't a bed of roses, anyone could tell you that. It is how we respond to the hard times that count. It's when we find the good in the middle of the "bad" that we really start to live. Being joyful doesn't mean smiling all the time or always being happy...no, joy is when, in the midst of a storm, you cling to the fact that God's love is unconditional, and you learn to "dance in the rain." Realizing that God has allowed this storm for a purpose, for a reason--to make you more complete in Him.
Life isn't about merely surviving during the rain either...although that is sometimes all we feel like doing. It's about learning to dance in the rain. It goes beyond a complacent attitude that says "I guess I will have make it through this one...God must want to teach me something." We need to thrive during the stormy times, taking the hurt and pain and using that as a weight to press us more and more into God.
I know it's mush easier said then done! The pain is so real, the hurt so great that it seems that God's love isn't there, that His promises aren't really true. But what we feel and what is truth are sometimes entirely different things. So during these times we must diligently seek the Word of God and constantly have His promises before us, because it is a fact that God loves us. And we must cling to that fact. We must take our eyes off our own pain and hurt and set before us the promises of God--that He is always faithful, that His love endures forever, that He is our Rock...and the list continues.
So when the storms come don't hide under the bed and wait for them to pass, go out and dance in the rain, and let God's promises shower you with joy!
"But let all who take refuge in you be glad; let them ever sing for joy. Spread your protection over them, that those who love your name may rejoice in You."
Psalm 5:11
They had an uncanny ability to make me smile and laugh! And when I felt like making life on the road a little more...shall we say "interesting"...they were always there to lend a hand! 
