Let It Rain

It’s nice to finally see the rain.

I think the weatherman said this morning we are about 10 inches short on rainfall for the year. Indeed, my dad said the other night that Rend Lake was the lowest he had seen it in a long, long time. But, tonight someone watched the kids for us for short time while Amy and I took a walk around the neighborhood. On our way back, it began to rain on us. Since it wasn’t too cold, neither of us seemed to mind. We didn’t even pick up our pace, we just enjoyed our time together walking in the rain. As we went along, I realized that the activity of walking was a good representation for our relationship. There we were, side by side, taking this journey through life. Amy and I have walked together through every neighborhood we have lived in. As teenagers, we would each start walking toward the other’s house and meet in the middle. During college we would take walks around Tower Lake at SIUE. We walked all around the tiny neighborhood of Steeleville. When we moved back home, we once again walked the long country blocks, and are now enjoying the city lights.

But we haven’t just walked through the streets. We have truly walked through life. We walked through the difficulties of growing up together. We have walked through the stress of college classes and living on a tight budget. We have walked through the joy of new babies, and the incredible difficulties of building new houses. We have walked through the sad times of loosing friends, and being hurt by those we most trusted. When it seemed like everyone was against us, we kept on walking. We walked until we found new friends, and met others to walk with us. And just like the rain on us tonight, sometimes we got rained on through the journey of life. But, as each storm passed, we saw new opportunities as the sun began to shine on us again.

And so it is tonight as I write this entry. The rain falls, confident, sure, and steady, just as we keep on walking. So, let it rain!