Rain

I was driving home last night and I was stopped by the usual red light. I was tired, like normal, so I was sort of slumping over the steering wheel. I caught sight of a young girl, probably around the age of five, jumping around a small patio in front of the door to her house. She was carrying a little umbrella and twirling it above her head, repeatedly. She fumbled the umbrella several times, seemingly trying to perfect a sought after graceful movement. She was clumsy; she was adorable. I envied her.

You see, the rain hadn't even started; in fact, it never did. She was outside, waiting for the rain. This was clearly not an act performed to defy the rain, but rather to embrace it. I used to like the rain. Jumping in puddles was fun, as a kid. "Drinking" the rain from the sky was refreshing.



I don't really like the rain anymore. It means slick roads, wet hair, sopping clothes and soaked homework. It means that my mascara will probably run and I'll feel like I peed my pants until it's time to go home and then it will happen all over again. It means that I'll be tracking mud into my car and into my house, and it means sirens and ambulances for those who slipped on wet pavement.

I think it's interesting how things change as we get older.

Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these."

Matthew 19:14

I don't exactly know what I'm trying to say, but I haven't been able to get that little girl out of my head. Life gets to be pretty serious a lot of the time, and deadlines and time and family and friends and relationships and obligations can cloud the way that we look at things. I'm aging, as we all are, and I think I'm scared of that.

I suppose that this is a part of growing up.  But we do have the option of choosing how we view that. I need to lighten up, I think. Yes, I think so.

Cheers.