Rain

Sometimes life presents you with an opportunity that does not come around often; a brief moment of magic that, if you are not careful, can be missed, never to return. However, if you are aware, and take hold of that moment, life blooms and is enriched.

Saturday was a busy day; we had an event planned at the church that required a great deal of planning, and one that would require most of our day as a family.
We woke up early, got ready, which is always a task in itself, and left for town. The children were very helpful, and we were off to a great start.

Our event was an incredible success, and after eating grilled burgers as a church family, it was time for us to gather on the square to pray for our town.

As we made our way to the monument, the sky grew dark promising the heavy rain that had been forecasted and we were eager to get done before the downpour began.
Just as we said “amen,” the rain began to fall, and everyone scattered. It’s pretty funny to see how adults act when they start getting rained on.

The panic and urgency to get into a dry place suggests that something will go drastically wrong if we get too wet. I say “we” because I tend to be the same way, but for some reason have never owned an umbrella.

So as everyone was sprinting to their cars, Cheryl and I began to gather the children making our way to the van, and that is when it happened.

Something inside of me remembered what it felt like to run in the rain as a kid in Louisiana.

I was overwhelmed with the desire to stand still with my face toward the beautiful sky, and be washed by the water; and I wanted my children to be able to do the same. So we did!

I told them we were changing directions, and to go back to the grass around the monument so we could play for awhile and they freaked out.

Those guys were so excited to be able to stay out in the rain; it is after all the hugest water hose in the world! God’s own Super Soaker! Together, as a family of eight, we all knew what was about to happen; we were about to make a memory that would last a lifetime, and we were going to give it our all!

The rain began to fall harder, and we launched into a game of chase. Cheryl and I would chase the children, and then they would turn around and chase us, then each other.
Everybody was chasing everybody with a lot of chasing, in the rain, on the square, it was awesome!

As I stood there, I was overwhelmed with my own childhood memories in the rain, and for just a brief moment, I was there again.

I was young, energetic, carefree, and new. What I thought was my gift to my children, to be able to stay out and be crazy for a change; turned out to be their gift to me and my wife. Saturday, in the rain, they chased away our fears and age, and ran us right back to laughter, where we belong.