Rain and growth

One of the hard things for me about where we live is that once we pass winter and I'm eager to get outside in the springtime, my allergies hit! So the one thing I'd love to do after a long cold winter actually makes me feel horrible (allergy medicine definitely helps!). I was out walking recently after it had rained a lot and my allergies were not acting up. I thought to myself, "The rain must have covered up the pollen or something because I'm not reacting to anything." Then my next thought was, "But I know what rain does--feeds those flowers and trees and eventually will cause even greater growth!"
It made me think about seasons in our life--sometimes we look around and all we see is gray and cold and rainy weather. It can be hard to imagine it will ever change. Then, out of nowhere, this beautiful new growth appears, stronger and more beautiful than we could even fathom. I think in the Christian life, the Lord consistently sends trials (or rain) to His beloved ones as a gift, as a way of bringing new growth. It sure doesn't always feel good, but if we drink in the rain and ask the Lord to use it in us, I think that miracle of new growth will happen. After all, His kind goal with all of us is to make us more into the likeness of His Son. Wouldn't we prefer to look more like our beloved Savior than to have all the fleeting happiness this world offers?