"Do human beings ever realize life when they live it? Every, every minute?" - Our Town

I was fortunate enough to get see a brief part of a lightening storm tonight. I was with my friend Cameron and we'd just made a run to the store for some junk food before we settled in for the night to watch Will & Grace. I really wanted to climb onto the roof of their condo and watch the sky continue to light up, but Cameron wanted to get started with our marathon as we usually watched 4-6 episodes and that could take a while.

But, luckily for me, he got distracted on the computer and I ducked out the window. I wasn't planning on it. At first it was just my head out the window, smelling the wind as it blew the storm closer to Provo. Then I swung my legs over the windowsill, feeling the rough tiles under my toes, and eventually, I slid my body out onto the raked roof.

The wind was whipping the trees around, blowing old leaves and dried out seadpods and cotton in random patterns. They would go one way, then the other, as the storm closed in on the town. The smell was amazing, a mix of fresh rain and old dust, and the sky was cut wide by bright flashes of electricity. Some would get caught behind the clouds, illuminating the sky in a vibrant white purple glow that silhouetted the trees and the mountains on my right. A few seconds after the light would come the sound, crackling and building as a force from far away slowing rumbling to its climax.

All the while the wind hissed through my ears, blowing my hair over my bare shoulders, stroking my bare legs, whipping me with little pieces of debris from the approaching storm.

As I sat there I thought "this is my life. I am living this right now." And I was suddenly so grateful to my Heavenly Father to be placed on this earth at this moment in time to experience this beautiful occurrence. And I was sad for all those who couldn't feel what I was feeling, those who couldn't see the beauty in a storm. Those who couldn't see God in every raindrop.

We get so caught up in the mundane parts of everyday life. If rain happens we worry if we rolled up the windows, mourn the loss of our barbecue, become frustrated because we'd just washed the car. We gloss over the beauties we see without a second thought.

A friend once asked if I thought Heavenly Father made beautiful things on purpose or if they just happened naturally during the creation. Personally, I think He made them on purpose as a reminder to us narrow-sighted humans that He is there all around us. To me, a waterfall, a mountain, a rainbow, they're all testaments of God's love, just like that lightening storm. A sort of heavenly hug, where, for a second, we can see the beauty and omnipotence of God.

"It's like God's looking right at you, just for a second, and if you're careful...you can look right back." - American Beauty