Learning to dance in the rain

I love the rain. I love everything about the rain. Its our stormy season here and my favorite time of the year. Each new storm is unique and unpredictable but at the same time beautiful. I could sit and listen to the rain for hours. It just brings me closer to nature, to my surroundings and to God. While rain can bring destruction in many forms especially this time of year with flooding and tornado's its also needed to bring about life. The storm that has the ability to destroy is the same storm that causes the flowers to grow and bloom. . 

Sometimes its hard to see in a storm. Things can seem so dark and dreary. Sometime you wonder if the storm will ever pass. Surely it can't rain forever right?

Right! Every storm will eventually pass and have you ever notice how much brighter the sky is after a storm? 

 

With every storm if you look hard enough you will also find a rainbow. It’s the same in life and while those storms can be hard and sometime devastating I still love them. Its during the storms of life that you see so much beauty in yourself and those around you. The tornado that hit Joplin here in the MidWest was devastating. It breaks my heart to see so much destruction and sadness. At the same time it has been beautiful watching people from all backgrounds, locations and places in life come together to help and support so many in need. So many beautiful stories of people sacrificing themselves to save loved ones and sometimes even to save strangers. Storms also cause us to seek shelter and my storm has lead me to seek shelter in the arms of my God. I have been a Christian all my life but this year I went from being a Christian to really embracing God and seeking his purpose for my life. This last year has been a giant storm for me and my family. I have seen friends, family and even strangers rally together  in order to  support me. Last year brought a third precious daughter into our lives but it also brought a lot of heartache. As we were enjoying the newness of our daughter we were also facing the uncertainty of cancer and what has become our greatest storm so far.

 I was diagnosed with Inflammatory Breast Cancer (IBC)  in September and began treatments all within a month after having her prematurely. IBC very rare and aggressive cancer (more on that later). While it has been a long and hard storm there have been so many rainbows and let me tell you the sky is most certainly brighter now than it has ever been. 

 I hope this blog will inspire and give hope to others with IBC. Not just hope that we can beat this thing but that we can even dance our way through it. I still don’t know what the future will hold but I wouldn’t change anything about this last year. Every part of the storm brought about something wonderful and beautiful and has made me a much better person, mom, wife and friend. Thats what this blog is about. Its about my storms and my rainbows. Its about my fight with IBC and about life in general. What that will look like I have no idea because frankly I don’t know what life will bring next but I’m sure it will something spectacular! One of my favorite quotes and one that has become my life moto is “life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass its about learning to dance in the rain”. I don’t know who wrote it though I have tried to find out but I try and live each day that way. As a family we have learned how to have fun on even the rainiest of days. So next time you have a storm in you life get out there and dance!