When It Rains

I love storms. I love to chase them and watch them change. I love to watch the clouds move across the sky while forming beautiful paintings of color and brilliance. I get the most excited when the clouds are the darkest. If I see a really, really, dark cloud, I often go out and chase it to see what is going to happen. Sometimes the clouds produce violent storms of lightning and thunder, and other times it just rains. But when it rains, there will often be a beautiful rainbow, if the sun is positioned just right. 

Last night, not too long after the last session of General Conference (click here to VIEW), the sky was growing thick with dark clouds. I ran upstairs quickly, to see if there might be a rainbow, because the sun was also shining through the darkness. Sure enough, my prediction was correct... there was a beautiful rainbow! 

I told everyone to get on their shoes and jump in the car, because it was rainbow chasing time! My children know the drill... I am a storm chaser, and so when I say get in the car, they just do it! (Seriously, if I could move to tornado country, I would be one of those crazies following the twisters with my car and camera. Maybe when the kids are older...)

We chased the rainbow, and it was just beautiful. We watched as the sun kissed the rain forming a vibrant smile of color.

 We watched as it faded into the darkness.

 But we decided to keep driving because it was so beautiful outside. We continued around the hillside as we watched the sky continue to dance, forming awe-inspiring moments.

 We made it up to a newly discovered area, up a hill, and we got out of the car and enjoyed the freezing cold wind.

 And as we ventured up the new hill... there was another rainbow!

This rainbow was even more glorious than the first one, and it seemed it was just for us, as we had a front row seat, with no one else around. I really do believe it was just for us, as it was tucked back behind this hill, that we just happened to turn down.

Rainbows are very special for our family... Charles used to always say that rainbows meant we were on the right path. There was a rainbow right after Charles proposed to me, and they have been scattered throughout our lives ever since. I cannot even express the thrill it was to see a rainbow last night, right after General Conference, and with the changes I have been trying to make lately. I was more than giddy as I was running around up on that hill in the freezing cold wind.

 I wish I had my real camera, but my phone did the job well enough to capture the moment.

 The temperature dropped as the rain fell.

 I was so happy!

 Sammi Sunshine is surely a pot of gold to me!

 The clouds started moving and it was phenomenal.

We ended up seeing three rainbows in one night! I have never seen anything like it! I am so grateful I felt inspired to jump in the car and chase the rainbows, otherwise, we would have never known they were even there! I wonder how often miraculous things happen around us that we never even see, perhaps because we are looking down, instead of up!

I am so grateful for the beautiful things of this world. I know that life can be dark and scary sometimes, but there is always hope. I have been there, in the darkness, clinging to hope for better days ahead. I know what it is like to wonder if the storms of life will ever break. Sometimes all you can do is hold onto that hope while the storm rages. But never lose hope... the sun will shine again! 

As Samwise Gamgee says:

Darkness must pass 

A new day will come 

And when the sun shines 

It will shine out the clearer

As for me... I will keep chasing my rainbows.