Caught in the Rain
One morning I took a careful look at the hourly weather forecast because I knew that rain, and probably storms, were on the way. Upon seeing that the rain was predicted to hold off until after lunch, I called Brinkley and the girls and suggested a walk after breakfast. As a side note, one of the luxuries I enjoy most when school is out is a morning walk with our girls.
When the girls were settled on their bikes and Brinkley was on his leash at my side, we headed out. As we reached the end of our street, I asked the girls, “Would you rather have a long walk or a short walk today?” “LONG!!” was the eager reply, so we headed out of our neighborhood and toward a nearby park. The clouds looked heavy when we arrived at the park, but knowing that the rain was going to hold off, I let the girls play on the playground for a few minutes so I could do some training with Brinkley. It brought a smile to my face watching them play happily together and giving Brinkley some time and attention, too. As I was giving the girls the one minute warning, Audra said, “Mommy! I think we need to go now; I just felt 3 raindrops! 4!”
“Uh, oh,” was my reply. “Girls, quick! Grab your bikes!” No sooner had the girls reached their bikes than the rain really began to fall. We giggled together, and I remember Audra saying, “Look, the rain is washing off my bike for me!” As fast as we could, we scurried to an overhang where I quickly checked the hourly forecast to see if this was a fluke pop up shower. Nope. The forecast had changed completely, and we were in for a thick line of storms. And on a LONG walk from home.
I knew that if I kept my spirits upbeat, we could turn this into a fun adventure, but sometimes even the best of parenting strategy falls short. Especially when you have a 2 year old with you who has a fear of storms. As we exited the safety of our overhang, Lisette began to cry. I crouched down next to her and told her we were safe and that we would make the walk home fun. Audra was super helpful in encouraging her and we decided to see how many puddles we could ride through. After all, if we were already soaked through, what’s a few more puddles? We made the most of the adventure, but poor Lisette did cry the entire way home.
Through her tears, though, Lisette had a face of determination. She was going to make it home on that bike, and she did. I was so, so proud of her for persevering! As soon as we arrived home, I got the girls right into a warm bath, dry clothes, and snuggled under a cozy blanket for a snack.
It was an ordinary day, but I couldn’t shake that it was also a symbolic reminder of the storms in life that come our way when we don’t expect them. Some people are able to take those storms in stride, while others feel overwhelmed by the fear of it. We can take a lesson from our littlest and choose to persevere through the storm. When we do, we will find that God comes alongside us, will give us glimpses of Himself along the way, and, ultimately, bring us to the comfort of His arms.
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P.S. I think the Lord was indeed whispering to us and teaching us through this story. Without knowing it, Andrew and I both wrote about it within a few days of each other. When we came together to review our latest posts, we both smiled and laughed when we saw that we had each been inspired by it. Look for Andrew’s thoughts to be published in the next couple of days!