November 10 – “A Rainy Day”

Today was a rainy day.  Not the "save for a rainy day and finally get to spend you stash," exciting kind of day.  Today was just a rainy day.  Slow.  Steady.  The kind of rainy day Chris used to hope for so the grass would green up and her flowers would perk up.  What do you do on rainy days?  Do you get to stay at home?  Watch TV.  Play video games.  Read a book.  Take a nap.  Call a friend.  Play with the goldfish.  Or maybe the dog.  Cats don't just "play," do they?  Or do you get dressed for work?  Open the umbrella.  (I just realized we don't have an umbrella, unless there's one somewhere in the car under our cleaning supplies).  Spend the day behind a nice, cozy desk.  Then come home and … Watch TV.  Play video games.  Read a book.  Take a nap …   Today Chris and I spent a quiet, romantic, rainy day in between two houses on Sycamore.  She wanted to do some cleaning and salvaging in our backyard.  I went over to Mom's and started sweeping and pulling more nails just in case the crew could come back some day and power wash and disinfect.  It was already on my list to call and ask.    I was sweeping when Chris came over and saw a bunch of yet-to-be-pulled nails in the wall, so I stopped, switched tools, and joined her in the other room.  We talked as we worked (I told you it was romantic).  At one point I realized that I was not doing so well at staying on task.  I would be pulling nails, then come to some tile, so I would start breaking out tile, until I came to a leftover pile of sheetrock, which I would then sweep away from our work area, which led me to see another group of nails, so I would change tools …  That's a very frustrating way to work.  I felt like I would never get anything done.  Even the little bit of work around us seemed overwhelming with this "style."  I tried to refocus and stay on task – get the nails pulled.  Do other stuff later.  Helped my concentration.  Still meant we had a lot to do.  Chris went to McAlister's Deli and brought us back a lunch.  We ate together in the quiet stillness of our open garage.  (Again, it was romantic, right?).  The rest of the day we worked together, taking turns scraping and sweeping floors at our house.  Chris "finished" the hall and Josh's old room.  All I managed to finish were two closets.  That's been our little family joke.  It didn't matter who worked on the room, or how much of the work you did.  All that "counted" was, who was the one that that held the scraper when it was finished.  So far the closets are the only victories I have had.   Rainy day.  Acts 14:17 says, "Yet he has not left himself without testimony: He has shown kindness by giving you rain from heaven and crops in their seasons; he provides you with plenty of food and fills your hearts with joy."   Father, thank you for the rain.  For the stuff that falls from the sky as well as the circumstances that fall into our lives.  Help us to receive both with joy.  Amen.