Let it shine.

My daughter and I were driving to play practice today.   It was raining.   This is not surprising.  It’s March in the Northwest.   I was running late.  This is also not surprising.   It’s a Saturday.    I don’t know about you but when I think of the ideal Saturday it does not include an alarm clock in the morning.   It includes a large breakfast and pajamas until noon.

However, sacrifices must be made when important things come up.   Our church has its annual presentation of Bow the Knee in about two weeks.  Bow the Knee is a musical about the death and resurrection of Jesus told from the vantage point of a Roman soldier.    Since the play is in two weeks, practices are in full swing and so lazy Saturday mornings are on hold.

I’m married to one of the Roman Soldiers.  I think he enjoys the tough growling and marching as a balance to all the pink and frills he’s surrounded by living at our house.   I like the costume although it’s a little odd to see my husband with that much makeup.   My daughter is a peasant girl.  We lost her costume in the move over the summer so later today we’re headed to the fabric store.   I don’t sing and I don’t act but over the past nine years I have developed some skills were styrofoam is concerned.   I’m on the set design crew.  Mostly I just do what I’m told.

Today I was told to have the four-year old at practice, so I dutifully put on my clothes and dragged us both out to the car and we were driving in the rain.    My daughter asked “Mom, where is the sun?  I can’t see it.”    I said, “Oh honey, the sun is still there, it’s just covered in clouds and rain.”   She responded “Mom, how does the sun still light the world when it’s covered up”.     I grinned.   What a perfect teachable moment.    “Honey, the sun is strong enough to give us light even when it’s covered up.”.    She said “I know, because God is powerful.”   And the child becomes the teacher. 

You see, the Son is powerful too.  Powerful enough to shine His light to the world even when it’s covered up.   And that is why we spend our Saturday mornings at play practice.

Want tickets?

http://www.lbnaz.org/bow-the-knee-easter-musical/

Rain, Rain

The fall is here.  Yippee!  I love pulling out sweaters and coats and cozy socks.  I love hot baths and warm fires.  I love soup.  I had tomato soup today for lunch and for dinner too.   I like back to school shopping, changing leaves, football season and rain. Actually, I love the rain.  I like how it sounds and how it smells.   I like how everything shimmers right after it rains.   Allergies are better, gravel driveways are less dusty, the whole world looks brighter.   I spent a while today with a loved one who shall remain nameless searching the parking lot for a lost car.  It was raining.  We were all wet.   I didn’t mind a bit.

When I was a child I loved jumping in rain puddles.  My mother told my daughter this recently.  I think it may have been to get back at me for all the shoes I wrecked as a kid jumping in rain puddles.   My daughter however is not really a jump in the rain puddle kind of girl.  She’s more the “laugh at the mommy who jumped in rain puddles” kind of girl.   Now when it rains, she points and says “there is a big puddle mom, don’t you want to jump in it?”    I do actually but that takes a certain level of commitment.  Is the moment’s joy worth the soggy pants and squishy socks?

I have a new book.  It’s called Taste and See by John Piper.  It includes 140 meditations which are to help with “Savoring the Supremacy of God in All of Life”.   If you need something to read that gives you a short thought that will remind you to be grateful then get a copy of this book.   You can borrow mine in about 136 days.  Mark your calendar.  Today’s thought was all about rain.  Job 5 : 8-10 talks about the amazing and unsearchable wonders of God and includes rain an example of a miracle.   I grinned when I read it.  Not only does rain provide a great way to irrigate crops but I think God knew that we couldn’t have sunshine every day.  Rain provides a way to cool down and rest.   It’s a lot like grace.

Todd Agnew’s song Grace Like Rain sums it up nicely.

Hallelujah, grace like rain falls down on me
Hallelujah, all my stains are washed away, washed away