On a Rainy Day.

I love rainy days. Rain is cleansing, pure, untainted, redeeming, and good-smelling. I can think of two reasons why I love rainy days. First because things in nature always tend to remind me of God. He does the same thing to us when he saves us as when he sends rain to the earth. He cleanses, nourishes, redeems, and makes us whole. Second, is sheer nostalgia. When my brother and I were little, I remember a specific rainy day where two rainy-day-traditions were mixed, making a wonderful afternoon.
To get you to that point, we must go back a few years. When I was four, I attended a daycare at what is now my home church. It seems like everytime it rained we had Ravioli for lunch. So now, as one might expect, even at 21, I crave "rabbinolis" on rainy days. Also when I was a child, my brother and I had this video of one of our favorite books. You see, my Nana loved to read Dr. Seuss to us as children, so naturally, I grew up with a love for those quirky rhymes and made-up worlds. And on those rainy summer days, we always watched "Cat in the Hat". This particular video was a bit longer than your usual freeze-frame Dr. Seuss, and in my opinion, a better version because it had catchy songs.

So, back to this tradition-combining day, a pinnacle in my childhood - it was raining cats and dogs outside. My Mom, brother and I went to get groceries at FoodMax (which is now Pathway). Now, keep in mind that at the time, I was maybe 7 and my brother 5. It had been a long day for Mom, I'm sure. The two of us couldn't run off our energy because of the rain AND we're at the grocery store, which is the worst place to take your kids when they're hyper. Mom told us that if we were good, she would make us ravioli for lunch. Buddy, you better believe we were angels, to my memory.

It was still raining when we brought the groceries to the car. After an afternoon at FoodMax with hyper children, rain was really something mom didn't need. I can just see her heaving a sigh and rolling her eyes at us. We got home, and I remember helping her bring in the groceries and helping her put them up. This whole time my brother and I hadn't really fought all that much - an unusual thing for us in those days.

Then I had the idea - why don't we watch "Cat in the Hat" and eat our ravioli in the living room? So we begged Mom, and I sure she only relented so she could take a nap. That lunch was probably the best tasting lunch in the history of my childhood because I was warm, inside, enjoying myself, my brother, and my rabbinolis (with fruit-punch kool-aid of course). To this day, he and I both remember that rainy, rainy day and can think back and laugh, still being able to sing everyword to every song on that tape.

All that to say, enjoy the rain. Even if the clouds look dark you hate to get your feet wet, it's okay. Something good will happen to you and might forget it if all you're thinking about is seeing sunlight. Look forward to the clouds, because without them, life might be brighter and yet somehow dull.