13 inches and the opportunity that it brought.

Over the past week the extreme South Carolina heat has given way to a deluge of rain. And, as the title suggests, 13 inches of rain have come. The wall of heat that we experienced that drove the heat index over 100 degrees consistently has been replaced. Every day a new form of rain seems to present itself to us. 

Torrential. Consistent. Drizzle. Soaking. Horizontal. Doesn't matter. The rain has come and it has cooled off this area. 

Yet an interesting by-product of the rain (besides all the flooding and downed tree branches that we are dealing with) has been a sense of distraction and a general malaise. 

I know a great many people who like to say that rainy days make for two things: great reading weather and great sleeping weather. But neither is terribly helpful when the list of things to do grows and we are told to be more productive--even in the rain. 

For instance, the power was out at the church for half of the morning on Tuesday and so sitting in the office and reading was not only irresponsible, but also impossible as the rain beat down on us. As a family we are getting ready for the wedding shower for JonMark and Autumn on Saturday so rather than sit in my chair in the evening and reading my book, I need to help Emma and Jennifer as they finishing preparing and transporting items over to the church.

We might want to do one thing, but life has imposed something entirely different onto our perfectly crafted schedules.  

Those 13 inches of rain interrupted our lives. But did it really??

Did the rain actually make me stop drawing close to the Lord? Did the rain cause me to stop looking out into my community and engaging them in sacred conversations? When I stood outside under an umbrella with the dogs, did the rain stop me from speaking with the Lord who brought the rain into our world? 

Perhaps something like an inconvenient rainy week can become an invitation to make time to be with the God? For even when it seems inconvenient, I wonder if God is inviting us to come close again and discover the mystery of God being with us?