Welcome to my time capsule. 😊 We are traveling back several years to meet a girl much like me, but far younger and more naive. I will be telling you her story through her eyes over the coming weeks and months. I hope you enjoy it and see the many ways her Savior has guided her every step of the way! All of my posts marked with #LaAventuraDeLaVida are a part of this ongoing series.
~ Nov 3, 2013 ~
As we were walking back home from Bible study last Thursday, we (the four younger teachers, who all live together) got caught in a sudden downpour halfway to the house (with about 4 blocks left to get home). It had been raining before we left, so Jenna had offered to put my Bible and study book in her bag, since I hadn’t brought a purse with me. I was wearing flip-flops, which aren’t the best running shoes in the world, and after I lost the same one twice, I decided to just walk the last three blocks. I ended up sopping wet, and by the last block I could barely see past all the water running into my eyes, but it was the lightest I had felt all week.
Photo by Viktorya Sergeeva from PexelsI thought about the experience again this morning, wondering why something I would normally consider an unfortunate situation (getting caught in the rain) was exactly the opposite. And then I realized – it’s because I was unburdened. I wasn’t carrying anything that I needed to protect; I had nothing with me worth worrying about. Because I had nothing to lose, the rain couldn’t hurt me. I was free to laugh at the water cascading from the sky, to fully sense the droplets running down my face and splattering on my arms. I could walk with my head up and a cheerful stride instead of hunched over my precious bundle, trying to keep it safe.
And it struck me that walking with God is like that. Wherever we walk in life, we will frequently get caught in rainstorms. But God is always walking beside us, and He has a dirt-proof, spill-proof, water-proof bag. When we choose to let Him always carry the things most precious to us – our family, friends, feelings, safety, “rights,” money, and whatever else we care about – we suddenly have nothing left to protect or defend, yet we know it’s all perfectly safe. Our posture changes, our attitude changes, and we can see the rain for what it really is: a momentary inconvenience that will sometimes blind us and leave us uncomfortably damp, but in the end will cleanse the road we are walking. We can see every sorrow, every hurtful word, every painful mistake, for what it is – a fleeting raindrop. When we have nothing to defend, these drops transform from liquid bullets into mere kisses from the clouds. And we can still laugh in the rain.
Five most recent posts in this series (most recent listed first):
Muchas cosas estan haciendo! - #LaAventuraDeLaVida
Mas Que un Vencedor - #LaAventuraDeLaVida
His mercies are new "cada mañana"! - #LaAventuraDeLaVida
Checklist for Gringos - #LaAventuraDeLaVida
Getting There: Saying Goodbye and Hello - #LaAventuraDeLaVida