Sometimes there is the feeling the rain will never end.

Well, it’s another beautiful day in Oregon. The sun is shining, the air is still, the grass is green, and winter is upon us. Typical for the Willamette Valley, for the past week it has been raining – and raining – and raining. During those rainy days, there is the feeling that the rain will never end – rainy days are short and rainy nights are long – a sense of dreariness and depression overcomes many.

And yet there is a sense of hope – hope that the sun will eventually show itself again.

We experience seasons in our lives like that – sometimes it seems like years on end of rain. What keeps us going during those times is a hope – a hope that the sun will once again light our lives and warm our hearts. Not the kind of hope that sinks our souls into depression when we fail at something we “hoped” we could accomplish. Rather, the kind of hope born of expectation based on prior experiences of success and accomplishment.

During the “rainy days” of our lives, I think it well to remember such days of success and accomplishment – because they tend to give us hope – hope that the “sun” will come out again. It’s just a matter of time then – just as it is here in the Willamette Valley – until the sun once again appears and shows us the cornicopia of colors that beautifies this place and causes our hearts to sing.