rainbows....

Today the wind is picking up, the clouds are turning a deep black, and the smell of rain is in the air. As I sat here eagerly anticipating a rainstorm (which has yet to materialize) a thought came to me. God has given us a beautiful picture of His grace, mercy, and hope in the midst of storms. When the clouds are at their darkest, he often allows a stream of sunshine to break through...and as the rain is still coming down, a rainbow of radiant and glistening colors comes out to bless us with it's beauty. I think this can be directly connected to those storms of our lives. For, in the midst of our dark storms of life, the learning processes of life, the Lord often allows a sliver of sunshine to break through...something that makes for a beautiful rainbow. He doesn't remove the storm, instead He makes it beautiful.

Yesterday I had one such experience. In the midst of the uncertainties with the family I lived with and having to face my mistakes....I spent the afternoon downtown with my friend Sirley laughing and smiling as we communicated in Spanish and English - amazingly being able to talk about family life, culture, spiritual things, our hopes and dreams, fears and failures, etc. with limited vocabulary. The storm clouds have been pretty dark recently, hovering and overwhelming, but the Lord has caused a sliver of sunshine to come out and it glistens and shines on the jewels of my new friendships here that are raining down blessings amidst those terribly dark clouds.

I love God's special little gifts. They never come exactly how I think they should...no, they always come better..and in such a way that only He can get the glory!

I've been living with a couple here at the training center...and the Lord has also blessed me with a deepening friendship with them as well. Just yesterday the husband (who is a chef) made an asado just for the three of us :) ... let's just say that I'm being blessed, not only with the food (which is wonderful), but also with good fellowship and laughter in the house.

In just a couple weeks I get an opportunity to live out a dream :). Okay, maybe it's silly, but I've always dreampt of living in downtown Portland (but you know how expensive that is!) and haven't ever had the ability to do it. Well, now here, I get to live with two girls from my church in an apartment really close to the main plaza in Dowtown Cordoba. It may not seem that amazing to some, but the Lord has just completely blessed my socks off (haha) by giving me this opportunity for my last month here in Argentina! I can't wait :)

I love rainbows :)