On my morning walk at 7:00, the rain came. First a drizzle and then steady rain.  It was such a delight to be caught in a summer rain.  I wouldn’t have placed myself in it on purpose, but it turned out to be gift.

The walk in the rain brought back memories of hiking in Costa Rica in the rain. In fact, I wore my swimsuit all day long because the rain forest brings showers at unexpected times and the climate is hot and steamy.  I was smiling as I remembered.  Soft, gentle, cool rain, making music in a bamboo forest as these tall wind chimes struck one another.  Hiking in beauty, not complaining about the rain and the mud.  The hike in Costa Rica in the rain was gift as it brought to my eyes such diversity of plants and wildlife I will never see where I live.  Such adventure!

As I encountered others walking in my neighborhood in the rain, we laughed as we met. These greetings were refreshing – better than our usual pleasantries of “Good morning.”  It is good to be alive and able to walk – rain or no rain.  As I am washed in the rain, I remember my baptism.

The memory of Costa Rica was the trigger to see the rain as gift.  If I look with God’s eyes, I know there is gift in all things.  “Rejoice in the Lord always!” (Phil. 4:4)  I see things with new perspective in the rain.

Last week I was running errands in the heat and humidity of summer in the Houston area.  The sun was pouring out light and highlighting the colors of nature.  I was so thankful I could be outside, to run errands, to just BE – alive and remembering that I am God’s daughter.  I was smiling as I thought of this and entered the hardware store.  I said to the clerk, “It is such a beautiful day!”  And he thought I was crazy. “It’s too hot.”  By the time I was finished sharing my perspective, he was smiling.  He, too, was grateful for the gift of life, the gift of the sun and light and opportunity and surprise that each day promises.