When the Rain Comes

Sometimes life can feel overwhelming. It's not even my life. It is all the pain in the world. The fact that we live in a fallen world, full of sin and pain and hurt, really sucks sometimes. And every now and then it just hits me like a ton of bricks. When I hear of someone who is going through a tough time, I often find myself thinking of what it would be like to be in their situation....

This week I found out about a young woman from Saskatoon, whose blog I used to read (she hadn't updated her blog since March of this year). Then the other day I found out that shortly after her last blog post she had been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS). This is someone who is close to the same age as me, who is married, who works, and has hopes and dreams for the future. Not that she doesn't anymore, but I can only begin to imagine how a diagnosis like that would shake your life. She is doing really well still, but she has some symptoms that have slowed her down a little bit already.

This morning when I was listening to the radio they were talking about the C95 radio marathon for breast cancer research. It was started 11 years ago because of Lisa Rendall, the former C95 morning show personality, was diagnosed with incurable breast cancer. She has done really well, and has become a huge advocate for breast cancer research and awareness. On the radio this morning they said that she is really sick, and that for the first time she wouldn't be able to take part in the radio marathon. I don't know why, but this made me really sad. Cancer is such a horrible disease. It makes me feel really sad to hear about people being diagnosed with cancer :(

Then tonight my mom called to tell me that my uncle Frank had had a heart attack earlier this week. He is doing well, and should be out of the hospital by early next week (barring any unforeseen complications). My Uncle Frank and Aunt Betty have been like an extra set of grandparents to me over the years. They don't have children of their own, but they have really been involved in the lives of their nieces and nephews and I have a lot of really fond memories of sleepovers and trips to the mall and cooking with them. Sometimes it hits me that as I get older everyone around me is also getting older and that my aunts and uncles and parents aren't going to live forever.

When mom called to tell me this news I was just starting to do some housework. Usually when I do housework I like to listen to my MP3 player. When I finished talking to mom I put the music back on and the song When the Rain Comes by Third Day came on. It brought a few tears to my eyes but it was really what I needed to hear at that moment. The chorus goes like this "I can't stop the rain, from falling down on you again. I can't stop the rain, but I will hold you until it goes away."