|
That first morning in Portree, on the Isle of Skye, dawned bright and beautiful. We had been in Scotland long enough to know the weather could turn at any moment, so we decided to head straight for the Old Man of Storr. This beautiful rock formation that looked for all the world like the face of an old man staring down into the ocean, was at the top of a steep hill. The ground was muddy and slippery from recent rains, but we were determined that this particular joy of the Isle of Skye would not be stolen away from us; and so we slipped and slid our way up the trail until we stood at the base of those spectacular, enormous rock formations. After taking some excellent pictures, we slid our way back to the car. And it was a good thing that we had been so determined to make the climb, for the rain set in as we were getting into the car.
We had a choice to make then. We could return to our bed and breakfast and wait for the sun to return, or we could slog on through the pouring rain and take our chances. We were becoming used to the rains of Scotland by this time, and we knew that if we returned to our hotel, there was a good chance we would be stuck there all day. On the other hand, if we continued on with our plans for the day, there was the tiny chance that maybe the rains would stop for a few minutes here and there and allow us to see some other things. We decided to take our chances, and we headed on down the road.
Yes, it did rain all day, but it was somewhat on and off. And we were fortunate enough to arrive at Point Neist between showers. It would have been sad to miss the magestic finger of land pointing out into the see, or the lighthouse at the end of it. It wasn't raining when we arrived at Quiraining, a beautiful hike among breathtaking rock formations; but the rain had filled the streams to capacity, making them impossible for us to cross without getting our feet wet. Nonetheless, we got some nice pictures. The rain stopped for about 30 minutes when we arrived at Fairy Glen, and we were able to explore this fairy-tale land of giant beehive-like hills covered in grass without getting too wet. We even made it about a mile out of the car park at the Fairy Pools; but even though it stopped raining for a few minutes, once again the streams were too full of water for us to safely cross, and it started raining as we returned to the car. We were able to snap a few pictures, however, and overall, we could honestly say that this day felt much more like an adventure because of the rain!
The Bible gives us some excellent advice: "Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!" (Philippeans 4:4 NIV). Notice that this verse doesn't say we are to rejoice in the Lord only when things are going good. It says we are to rejoice in the Lord ... ALWAYS! And yes, that means when the rain is falling on your planned vacation. It means when you've lost half of the same vacation already due to ill-timed thunderstorms. It means when your luggage takes four days to catch up to you! When we find ourselves in such situations, we have the choice to grumble and complain, or we can choose to follow the Bible's advice and ... rejoice in the Lord! That is what we did that rainy day on the Isle of Skye, and as a result, we were blessed.
Whatever it is you are facing, REJOICE IN THE LORD! ALWAYS! You'll be amazed at how things turn out in the end!
And the end of our day did, indeed, bring us a blessing: Our long-lost luggage awaited us at our bed and breakfast that night...
In His love,
Rob Chaffart
|
