Monday, May 18, 2009

Rain, rain go away...maybe

This has been, without a doubt one of the wettest springs I can remember. We finished 2008 in a severe drought, but thanks to the rains this spring we have successfully exited drought status.

Rain, and our reaction to it are funny things. We know that every living thing needs it...can't live without it. And when it's August - and 98 degrees outside, the grass has turned brown, and you wilt as soon as you walk out of the air conditioning - we beg and plead for rain. Yet, when the rain disrupts our picnic, beach plans, or ballgame - we have nothing nice to say about the rain - it's a nuisance.

I admit I straddle the fence in my attitude on rain. I do see the beauty and necessity in having the rain water the land and animals. I know that we need the rain to replenish the water table. I love the rainbow after the rain, and don't even get me started on the joys of napping on a rainy Sunday afternoon. But I have also been the one to complain when a picnic had to be moved inside, or a ballgame was rescheduled for the 3rd time due to rain. I said some pretty nasty things about the rainstorm that soaked me to the skin as I was trying to load and unload my groceries the other day, too.

But is our love hate relationship with rain more than that? Two weeks ago, just as youth was ending, the sky ripped open and this deluge of rain came down. The Beacons (the name of our youth group) could have stood on the porch of the youth house and waited and complained. Instead they embraced the joy that comes from an unexpected gift. They rushed out into the rain and began to dance! Not just playing - but dancing! This rain was not an inconvenience or a bother, but a gift and a blessing! Something to be celebrated, not because of the benefits it brings, but just for the sheer joy of the it all!

As I sat and thought about all of this yesterday it was...you guessed it...raining. I sat there at my desk looking out the window at the rain, and I felt a tear slip down my face. I was crying because I felt alone and adrift. There was nothing to celebrate, nothing to be joyful about...it was a grey, rainy, sad day. Now, I'm not one of those people who believes that everything happens for a reason, but I do believe that God chooses to reveal his love and compassion in a multitude of ways. As I sat there crying, all alone in my office, with nothing but my lap-top and my i-tunes, God sent me a gift. I-tunes was shuffling through my music library when it chose to stop on a song by Third Day - When the Rain Comes.

Like the Beacons, I found my "joy" in the rain, and found myself dancing in my office. Life is not always sunshine...there will be rain...but we are surrounded by friends and family to get us through the rainy, gloomy times. And most importantly we are loved by a God who sends the rain to nourish us, but also to hold us until it goes away!
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