A Day in the Life of a Snow Storm

I am sitting in my hotel room stranded because of the snow in Dallas.  I so desperately want to get home and yet, it is amazing how times like these cause you to slow down and take a look at what is really going on in your world.  I've allowed my personal and professional life to sweep me away from doing what I really love.  I love to write.  I catch myself complaining that I didn't have the time to do it and strangely enough, I have found the time to do things for everybody else but me.  

I think sometimes we focus so much on what is wrong instead of seeing what is good and true. Instead of feeling bad because I'm not home with my husband and child, I have chosen to be grateful that all of us are safe.  I am not in the airport like many tonight without a warm, hotel room that they can sleep in.  I realize that right this moment, I have been given a gift.  An opportunity to rest, relax and reflect.  

I believe daily we are given these moments.  They are often overshadowed by situations we can't change and people who serve as distractions from our purpose.  We look for these moments to be grand and we miss them.  We miss the beauty of the snowflakes because we are so consumed with how we will drive home.  We miss the sound of the wind because we have allowed so much noise to overpower our thought process.  Maybe the excitement we are seeking, the "Calgon take-me-away" experiences have always been there waiting for us to be open and available but we never stop long enough to see the opportunity.

My goal for the next week is to look, listen, and be open to those small rays of light that seek to illuminate my path.  I've been so fixated on the sun that I can't see those sunbeams that are around me daily.

I see that the many storms that have come and gone in my life have been painful  but they have brought so many lessons with them.  Thanks God for the snow because without this storm in my life, I could not have taken the time to see how blessed I really am.