Lessons From My Kids: The Beauty In Waiting For Storms To Pass

It’s been really rainy here the past few days and my son, who loves nothing more than to be playing outside, has been really grumpy that we’re stuck indoors.

“This is boring,” he said to me earlier this morning. “I hate the rain.”

Instead of giving in to his mini-tantrum, I tried to instead get him to look at the bright side. “Have you ever heard somebody say, ‘April showers bring May flowers’?”

“No,” he replied, still grumpy.

“Well, it means that in April, it tends to rain a lot so that all the flowers can bloom, the grass can grow and the trees can have leaves again.”

He got quiet so I kept going. “When it rains, it means God is watering all the plants and flowers so everything can grow. The food we eat needs to water to grow, the grass you run on to play needs water to grow, and if you want to have any shade outside, then the trees need water for the leaves to grow.”

“So…rain is good?” he asked.

“Yes,” I said. “Rain is good.”

Even though I just told my son that rain is good, truthfully, I was tired of it too. I get tired of having my son’s energy confined to the four walls of the living room. I get tired of having to tell my kids over and over again that no, they can’t ride their bikes because it’s pouring rain.

With any storm that comes into your life, you may be tired of it. You may be tired of waiting to make more money. You might be tired of school. You might be single and lonely and ready for someone to share your bed at night. You may be unhappy with where you are in life and are wondering when anything is going to change.

But just like the rain, it’s a period of growth. Sometimes we are “stuck” in a phase because we haven’t gained what we need to truly be able to move into the next phase of our lives. Sometimes we haven’t gotten that promotion because we haven’t learned how to make good financial decisions with the money we already have. Sometimes we are still single because we need to understand ourselves a little better before we can share our lives without else. Sometimes….we have to wait for the storm to pass and to busy ourselves with growth in the meantime.

Instead of being frustrated, ask yourself what you have control over and work within that. You may not be making as much money as you’d like, but maybe you can cut some expenses. Maybe you’re tired of spending weekends alone—call a friend and ask them to meet you at the mall, or just hang out by yourself. Maybe you want to move out of your neighborhood—spend some time researching other places to move and make sure you can afford it.

While you’re at a standstill, be  still. Learn something. Figure out the lesson. Then you can move on.