Driving to Louisville this weekend has been quite an experience. Beautiful scenery, blue skies full of puffy white clouds, but also some of the most torrential rain I have ever ridden through. It came in multiple spurts. Torrential rain. Sunshine. Torrential rain. Sunshine.

How much this is like life! We just want to get to our destination (whatever that is), and along the journey are storms that threaten to blind or crash us and beauty that is breathtaking. Life is both and everything in between. Jesus said he came that we could have it more abundantly. As children of God we are not exempt from life’s storms, but He walks beside us, in front of us, and behind us.

As I write this, I’m in a hotel lobby, sipping coffee, preparing to visit with my dad who had a stroke a few weeks ago (if you’ve been wondering what happened to my blog scheduling-there you go). The way that God has prepared my parents’ home for them, the people who were in just the right place to care for him, I am more certain than ever that God is not surprised by our circumstances. If we look, he has been preparing us all along. He is using every storm. And just like I trusted my husband to drive and get us to our destination safely (though sometimes I literally had to hold on tight and close my eyes), I trust that God will be with me and get me through every downpour.