Last week, we had our first big snow storm of the season. Not at my house, but 10 miles away, in the foothills of Boulder, Colorado. At my house, we had two days of rain. Something about updrafts and mountains that made it just a bit warmer to avoid the white stuff. Never mind that the weatherman predicted broken tree branches and downed power lines.

After two days of steady downpour (a rarity in this part of the country), I was surprised and delighted one morning when the clouds lifted. I could see the foothills on my drive home from taking the kids to school. Before me was the sun casting a golden light onto hills known as the Flatirons, the snow looking like powdered sugar gone wild. It took my breath away. I had only been focusing on how miserable it felt to be wet and damp. Unbeknownst to me, just a few miles away, a beautiful landscape was being

created. This reminds me that in our own lives, it may feel like a steady downpour will go on forever. At some point, the clouds do lift to unveil something new and wonderful, right in our own backyard.