|
She had been shopping with her Mom in Wal-Mart. She must have
been 6 years old, this beautiful brown haired, freckle faced
image of innocence. It was pouring outside. The kind of rain
that gushes over the top of rain gutters, so much in a hurry to
hit the Earth it has no time to flow down the spout.
We all stood there under the awning and just inside the door of
the Wal-Mart. We waited, some patiently, others irritated
because nature messed up their hurried day. I am always
mesmerized by rainfall. I get lost in the sound and sight of the
heavens washing away the dirt and dust of the world.
Memories of running, splashing so carefree as a child come
pouring in as a welcome reprieve from the worries of my day. Her
voice was so sweet as it broke the hypnotic trance we were all
caught in.
Mom, let's run through the rain," she said.
What?" Mom asked.
Let's run through the rain!" She repeated.
No, honey. We'll wait until it slows down a bit," Mom replied.
This young child waited about another minute and repeated: "Mom,
let's run through the rain."
"We'll get soaked if we do," Mom said.
"No, we won't, Mom. That's not what you said this morning," the
young girl said as she tugged at her Mom's arm.
"This morning? When did I say we could run through the rain and
not get wet?"
"Don't you remember? When you were talking to Daddy about his
cancer, you said, 'If God can get us through this, he can get us
through anything!'"
The entire crowd stopped dead silent. I swear you couldn't hear
anything but the rain. We all stood silently. No one came or
left in the next few minutes.
Mom paused and thought for a moment about what she would say.
Now some would laugh it off and scold her for being silly. Some
might even ignore what was said. But this was a moment of
affirmation in a young child's life. A time when innocent trust
can be nurtured so that it will bloom into faith.
"Honey, you are absolutely right. Let's run through the rain. If
God let's us get wet, well maybe we just needed washing," Mom
said.
Then off they ran.
We all stood watching, smiling and laughing as they darted past
the cars and yes, through the puddles. They held their shopping
bags over their heads just in case.
They got soaked.
But they were followed by a few who screamed and laughed like
children all the way to their cars
And yes, I did. I ran. I got wet. I needed washing.
|
The image on this page was emailed to me.
If 