The Healing Rain Brings
It started raining this morning at around 3am, the droplets hitting my tin roof with such force it woke me in an instant and I sprang out of bed with a joy I couldn’t contain.
I rushed through the dark house with anticipation, and as I opened the back door and walked out onto the verandah, a giddy laugh erupted through my lips.
I love the rain. I always have. It represents days indoors, reading a book; it reminds me of my childhood where the summer rains would fall, and the smell of hot tar from the road would permeate my nostrils as we rode our bikes along the street. It reminds me that it can wash away the dirt, mingle with our tears, and soothe our aches.
Every time it rains now that I’ve grown, you will find me rushing to the kettle to make a coffee to take outside and sit, just watching it fall and water our grass, fill up our water tank, and calm something in my soul. A piece of me, that piece of me as a child, reemerges, and I think of what that childhood joy was like, the way I remember it.
My childhood wasn’t spectacular, it wasn’t easy, it was filled with heartaches… but what I also remember is how I found joy in the small moments. How I dreamed of the wonderful possibilities of my future and who I was going to become.
As children, we have resilience and live for the joy more than ruminating on the pain. We dance in the rain.
And then we grow up…
Somewhere along the way from knockdown after knockdown, the joy begins to slip, and the hard times we have walked through take up too much space in our memories. A simple song can take us back to a time that almost broke us; a movie can bring back snapshots of trauma; running into an old friend can remind us why we are no longer connected.
But the rain… the rain brings me joy.
Unfiltered joy, and I hold onto it every chance I get. Because it reminds me of why Jesus loved the little ones so much. They managed to find joy in the moments. To see all the possibilities of life, they captured true pieces of happiness and held onto them even in times of grief or trouble. And I think God wants us to look for those moments.
Those small moments of childlike happiness that bubble to the surface so we can be reminded that there is goodness in the world.
So I will hold onto the rain. I will wake up at any time it decides to fall. I will smile and feel a fresh wave of peace at its sound. And I will thank God that it’s something that brings me a fresh wave of gratitude.
Love Sarah - Little Sparrow Loved.
And said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. - Matthew 18:3
*What is something that brings you joy that you can thank God for today?
