Rain Rain Go Away....or maybe stay

It's raining today. Rain means several things in my life.

1. Kids can't go outside. Explaining to a 1 year old why they can't go blow bubbles in the rain is pretty much impossible The poor thing keeps yelling at the back door which is driving me crazy... The 5 year old is literally jumping on the couches so do I let him keep doing that and wait and see if he gets hurt or continue to yell and lose my voice and my sanity...

2. The dogs won't pee and poop in the yard. Yep, they won't. They refuse to go into the yard because heaven forbid their feet get wet. So there is literally crap on my deck. Poop broom (yes we have one of those) will have to be used when it dries. Gross

3. I can't do laundry. There is literally standing water in our yard. We are on a septic system and have had issues with it so doing laundry when we have this much rain is too hard on it. So the pile just keep growing.

So my life is super fun today. But here is what I know about rain.

It means new life. The flowers in my garden are starting to grow which means I am extremely happy. The flowers bring me joy and happiness at times when I struggle to find it.

Rain waters the ground that is incredibly dry and maybe just maybe will wash away all of the pollen that is making my ears, throat and nose angry.

Rain is also a sign of hope. When the rains came in Genesis, Noah built an arc. Now, I won't go into my thoughts on the whole Noah and the arc story but what I will say is that at the end God created a rainbow and said that never again would God wipe out an entire Nation. God made a covenant with Noah that after the rains a rainbow will appear as a sign of hope, life, grace and mercy.

While the rain creates conflict in my own life it is beyond and bigger than myself.

My dad loved rain and storms. His birthday is this week. He would have been 61. He would love a day like today. Keeping watch on the rain gauge to see how much he got. He would be texting his brothers to see how much rain they were getting.

Rain is a sign of love for me. It is a sign that even in the darkness there is light and love and hope of new life. Rain brings the flowers, rain brings the memory of my father to the forefront of my mind, rain brings life.

While I still have to figure out what to do with these children, dogs and all of my laundry, I will try to sit with the beauty of the rain and the promise that God made to each of us with the rainbow.

God bless you all.