Skinny Jeans

Funny, there weren't many people walking to work this morning. I'm not sure why. It was a beautiful morning. The colors were vibrant. The temperature was warm. Well, maybe not warm, but it wasn't freezing yet... It was refreshing and glorious outside!

What? The rain, you say? The rain is why people weren't walking to work? But it is only a drizzle...a mere fall shower at best. The puddles are not yet past my ankles, at least not in most places. And the rain would have been coming almost straight down if not for the slight wind. But that is what umbrellas are for, no? Umbrellas were designed to keep the head dry, which is really the most important part. Sure, my legs were damp to the knees, but it gives me the impression, as my pants stick to my legs, that I am finally caught up with the fashion. For the first time since 1994, I'm wearing "skinny jeans" and didn't pay a penny extra for them! It gives me a chance to "try out" the style and if I don't like it, or if people smirk, I can just as easily go back to my everyday slight flare and not be any worse off for the experience.

As I walked in the rain, and held myself back from "singing in the rain" as well. I just couldn't help but love this morning. I looked around myself, and saw the vibrant orange of the tractor next door. I saw the bright red of the neighbour's car. The extraordinarily dark wood of the drenched trees against the light mist in the distance was breathtaking. It was an absolutely beautiful walk to work today. On a day when I was tempted to stay in bed a little longer, and stay in the house a couple more hours, I ventured out and was rewarded. God poured out his blessings (literally, poured) and I captured them (all over my, now wet, clothing). I looked and saw. I touched and felt. I didn't taste...but perhaps I should have? There's something about the picture of a small child throwing back their head and tasting the rain or snow that tells me that, in that moment, they're enjoying life to its fullness. The rain or snow that we adults only think of as messy and inconvenient, a child runs and plays in. They are amazed at each individual snowflake and don't think about how they're going to clear it from the driveway. And they taste. They can't just look and feel, that's not enough, they need to tip back their head and taste the goodness. They taste the goodness of God.

"Taste and see that the Lord is good!"

Psalm 34:8(a)