Sunshine in the Rain
My son Nathanael was a wise old soul in a young heart.
He had a way of making you see the important things even in the most unlikely sources.
One of his favorite videos as a child was Old Yeller.
It took me a few years to see what was so intriguing about a movie where the young teen has to get rid of the lovable dog that the family worked so hard to keep.
All I could see was the scary moments, the sad things, the hard times portrayed in the show.
Until I watched it with the kids once, the boys rewound the movie, and showed me the quote that sticks with me to this day.
When Arliss' father comes home from delivering cattle and sits down with his son to listen to the story of how they gained, and lost, a beloved dog while Pa was away.
Pa tells Arliss:
"It’s not a thing you can forget. Maybe not even a thing you
want to forget….
Life’s like that sometimes…
Now and then for no good reason a man can figure out, life will just haul off and knock him flat, slam him agin’ the ground so hard it seems like all his insides is busted.
But it’s not all like that.
A lot of it’s mighty fine, and you can’t afford to waste the good part frettin’ about the bad. That makes it all bad….
Sure, I know – sayin’ it’s one thing and feelin’ it’s another. But I’ll tell you a trick that’s sometimes a big help.
When you start lookin’ around for something good to take the place of the bad, as a general rule you can find it." ~Jim Coates, from the movie Old Yeller
Nathanael liked the movie for what he learned from it, not from what was hard to grasp.
His wisdom overwhelmed me at times, coming from such a small child.
There were countless times my son put me in the right frame of mind, even if we had just had another argument.
As I sit and write yet another story of how my life is different now, surprisingly, I smile.
The memories have a way of bringing the good out of the bad.
And on those days where I just can't seem to find any silver lining to the dark clouds hanging over me, my heavenly Father never fails to show up and remind me to look harder.
I could be running to the house to escape the storm, yet I turn around and see another miracle in the sky.
Life’s like that sometimes…
Now and then for no good reason a man can figure out, life will just haul off and knock him flat, slam him agin’ the ground so hard it seems like all his insides is busted.
But it’s not all like that.
A lot of it’s mighty fine, and you can’t afford to waste the good part frettin’ about the bad. That makes it all bad….
Sure, I know – sayin’ it’s one thing and feelin’ it’s another. But I’ll tell you a trick that’s sometimes a big help.
When you start lookin’ around for something good to take the place of the bad, as a general rule you can find it." ~Jim Coates, from the movie Old Yeller
Nathanael liked the movie for what he learned from it, not from what was hard to grasp.
His wisdom overwhelmed me at times, coming from such a small child.
There were countless times my son put me in the right frame of mind, even if we had just had another argument.
As I sit and write yet another story of how my life is different now, surprisingly, I smile.
The memories have a way of bringing the good out of the bad.
And on those days where I just can't seem to find any silver lining to the dark clouds hanging over me, my heavenly Father never fails to show up and remind me to look harder.
I could be running to the house to escape the storm, yet I turn around and see another miracle in the sky.
If I spend too much time frettin' about the bad, I would have missed another hug from heaven.
I look back at my phone pictures from the last three years of Memorial Day weekends, and find every single year since we've spent our weekend traveling the countryside decorating so many family cemeteries, God has been painting the sky with his promises to care for us in every storm.
Homeward bound 2016
The calm in between storms 2017
My life story captured on my phone 2018
When I choose to look for the sunshine in the rain - I will usually find it, with the help of our Creator, Old Yeller, and Nathanael.
It just takes a little practice.
Stories from the journey of my life by: Sue Leerhoff
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