Stormy Season

I was chatting with a friend today and caught myself saying repeatedly how much I HATE the storm season.  I have always had a dislike for storms but it really got me thinking, do I really hate the storms or do I hate the storm season? Because of course the storm season is actually the front end of the baseball season which is a particularly "stormy" time for anyone married to a ball player.  You're either moving, saying goodbye to your husband, taking on single parenting, working an extra job to make ends meet or whatever on top of the emotions that come along with a new season.  I know for me even every day tasks become just a tad harder because I walk around with a chip on my shoulder always thinking how much easier it would be to do this if Nick were here. So is it the storms that I hate so much? or is it the stormy season? Because as I just mentioned, the storms wouldnt be all that bad if just Nick was here to sit through them with me.  Reminds me of the quote that says something like "its not waiting for the storms to pass but learning to dance in the rain."

Last year was a particularly long season for us.  Nick left in February and did not get to come home until almost November.  Drake was only 4 months old when he left and Mason was 3.  I was exhausted.  I could not wait until the day Nick got home so I could of all things, go grocery shopping BY MYSELF.  It was like therapy getting to spend a solid 30 minutes walking up and down the aisles of wal mart without handing out snacks, digging for binkies, singing songs, ect. Yet strangely, that last week before Nick got home I got really sad.  I was so excited to see him but finally realized after almost 8 months of single parenting I had not taken the time to enjoy this special time with my boys. Of course they might not remember it, but for that short time I was all they had.  They became my best friends, my playmates, my reason for getting up everyday and I had complained my way through eight months and not even realized how special that time would be looking back at it. 

So now, in another trying time of life, or I will now call it, the "storm season" I have realized that I really do need to take time to "dance in the rain."  Thank you Lord for this precious time with my boys.