There’s just something about sunny days

I’m not sure where you’re sitting as you’re reading this, but if you were in Minnesota at any point throughout today you were lucky.  It was a gorgeous day.  The best part about it was that it didn’t start out beautiful.  The day started out rainy, gray, and gloomy, a combination that foreshadowed the possibility that our friends thunder and lightning may be coming for a visit.

Grabbing our rain coats and heading for the Twins game, Maddie and I prepared ourselves for a day filled with scattered showers and cloudy skies.  The humidity followed us onto the light rail, and the puddles from the previous rain made pools around our feet as we walked. 

As you know, I’ve got a thing for baseball.  I love the smell of the grass, the pace of the game, and the fact that almost everyday of the week I can escape for at least a second into a world where only hits, runs and errors matter.  I grew up going to Twins games, telling my dad that one day I’d sing the national anthem at a major league baseball game.  Through some wild turn of events I found myself working for the Arizona Diamondbacks for the 2008 season, and on June 19, 2008, I sang the national anthem when the Oakland A’s visited the D-backs at Chase Field.  It was an amazing feeling, and a day I will never forget.

Today, however, was another day I will always remember.  It was my first visit to the Target Field, the new and incredibly improved home of the beloved Minnesota Twins.  Maddie and I made our way to our seats, sat down, looked out, and just took it all in.  Luckily, we were still dry, and the clouds seemed to tell us that they would try not to bother us too much as the day went on. 

A few minutes later, as the national anthem performer began to sing, the players and fans alike faced the flag with their hands on their hearts, and the emblam of our country was raised into the air, it was as if God said, “Alright, you’ve dealt well with this mornings icky weather, now you deserve to enjoy a clear day.” (Yes, I think God would say “icky” )

The sun came out and the coats came off.  The clouds moved across the city and the sun glasses went on.  Would it have been a good idea to bring sun screen?  Yes.  But instead we left the game with pink cheeks and farmers tans, but there was something we did not leave with: a complaint.

There’s just something about sunny days, especially the ones that start out cloudy, that can change the way you look at things.  Going through the musty morning, preparing for the worst, can make you appreciate the beauty of a sunny day just that much more. 

I think that’s why we face hard times, so that we can appreciate the good things that God’s got planned for later on. 

We don’t get the job, or don’t get elected, don’t get interviewed, or don’t get the award.  We get hurt, we fall back, we lose, and we settle.  And sometimes, when it rains, it pours.  But sometimes, if you’re patient, and you work hard and simply try, something happens that helps a dark cloud move along on it’s way.  One after another, the clouds clear.  Each time, one more ray of sunshine is able to reach you, until eventually you leave the game with burnt cheeks and a farmers tan

I’m not sure what you’re going through, or what it is you struggle with.  Maybe you’re pretty happy with how your life is going, and if that’s the case, I’m smiling for you   I just hope that when those good things start to happen, and the sun starts shining brighter in your life, that you take a second to give thanks and appreciate the gift, because as they say: without the rain, there’d never be a rainbow~

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