Merciful Sunshine

Last week we had our first big family vacation in almost four years. We took the kids to Disneyland for the first time for some long overdue "family time." I'm not a huge amusement park fan but Disneyland is just one of those childhood memories every kid needs--or at least that's what my kids have been telling me for months!

I faithfully watched the weather reports and was disappointed to learn that about half of our planned vacation time would be during stormy weather. But what could we do? There was positively no way to reschedule our trip. We arrived in California planning to spend some time at the beach before going to Disneyland but it rained. . .A LOT! So we had to skip the beach and instead sit in our hotel watching TV and listening to the rain. (But I was able to watch the Les Miserable 25th Anniversary Special on PBS so the day was not a complete loss!)

The morning of our first Disney day was bright and sunny and so was my disposition. We were ready for a great day. But as we boarded the bus at our hotel I noticed the ominous storm clouds in the west and as we entered the park the sprinkles started. By the time we walked down Main Street we were in an absolute downpour.

It was clear our hoodies were not going to cut it in that kind of weather so we headed to a gift shop to buy rain ponchos. But unfortunately so did about 500 other people so there was an enormous line. My sweet husband, who at times seems to stand in line for a living, got in that line and patiently waited while I took the baby to a quiet corner and did what any self-respecting mother of four would do in that situation--I sat down on the floor and burst into tears.

We had come all this way. My husband had been through so much to be with us. We had been waiting literally years for an opportunity to take a trip like this.

I could not believe this was happening. I generally try to manage my expectations and try not to get my hopes up, but just this once I wanted it to be my turn to have my expectations actually met.

So I prayed. It may have been one of the most selfish prayers of my life but I prayed that the Lord would stop the rain so that we could have a good experience as a family. I recognized that there were probably farmers in the area that needed that rain more than I needed a good vacation but I prayed for sun anyway.

Thirty minutes and $40 worth of ponchos later, we all suited up for the rain. We left the gift shop and walked out into the sunshine of a bright California morning. There were a few lingering raindrops but the rain cleared completely within the next five minutes.

I started to cry again--tears of gratitude to a Heavenly Father who loves me enough to grant me such a wonderful blessing in a rather unimportant matter when I really needed it.

I believe in tender mercies. I know the Lord granted me a very special one that day.

We continued to have beautiful weather for the next two and a half days. The rain returned late in the day on our third day but we were about "done" by then. Plus, we were prepared with some really cool ponchos when the rain finally hit again!



We decided to extend our trip by one extra day and make up for our lost beach day before heading out of town. We had a wonderful afternoon on the beach which was just the icing on the cake of a really great trip.

Life is beautiful!