It's Rainin' ______? (Not "Men", sadly!)

In so many ways, things have been raining here in Mozambique!

Way #1: Rain.

I found out that my roof leaks. It wasn't a disaster or anything, except for the necessary furniture move in the middle of the night. I went to sleep around 10:30. About an hour later, much to my surprise, I kept feeling a DRIP, DRIP, DRIP on the top of my blanket. (Yes, I said "blanket." And yes, it is decently HOT here in Africa, but I'm super blessed to have an air conditioner in my home.) And then it came. The final DRIP that splashed my face, right on my nose! Needless to say, I was awake and somewhat disoriented, finding myself being rained on inside. I have since learned that this "raining/dripping inside" is a common occurrence here during the rainy season. And honestly, I have so little to be complaining about...I have one friend here who, because of the literal downpour in their home during these tropical semi-tsunami storms, would sleep standing (standing!!!) in a corner of a room, just to be "between the leaking places."

However, because of this wonderful downpour, I found out that there are spots in my roof where the water seems to have found a way directly down the center of my bedroom. I was told it was because the roof needed to be capped off; so at first chance, which translated loosely was only about 10 hours later, the team was capping off our roof with cement.

And then...then...the rainy season started.

That sneaky water. It found more places to infiltrate my sanctuary (like where the bolts hold the roofing panels on to the rafters). Apparently cement isn't the best barrier over time to keep water out. But, we have an amazing maintenance crew who fixed my roof "leakers" in two hours, while I was at work in the office! Now sneaky water droplets only invade one spot in my bedroom. And that I can live with. I'll try to upload a video of the sounds my room made the first night of the real rainy season, with the pots all over my room, sequestering my bed (which now consisted of two foam mattresses on the floor, because my bed frame broke in the middle of the night one night and thankfully it wasn't the same night it rained in my room, or I would have probably not been able to keep it together!) to the one place in the whole room that it wouldn't get rained on. Well, at least the wet wouldn't drench my bed until about four hours later, when I had to move the mattresses to the other side of my harmonious pots. If you listen closely to the background volume, you'll hear my "lullaby" from that evening/very early morning...

Disclaimer: Please be aware that our internet connection is going so slowly that it might take three days to upload said video clip. Thank you for your patience. Your call is very important to us and will be answered in the order it was received. Oops, scratch that last comment. Sorry.

Way #2: Relational. Rain.

I've posted a couple of photos of the girls that I'm in love with. They live together, various aged girls in a dorm style house, with bunk beds. So they are literally sleeping on top of each other!

The other day I was not feeling well, and a friend came over to check on me. She said, "Hey, you know, one of your girls wanted to come and pray for you." At that moment, I was feeling so icky that it didn't even dawn on me that this child wanted me to feel better. I was so stuck in my own stuff that it didn't register until about a day later, when I ran into this child who promptly asked if I was feeling okay.

Blessings raining down in abundance...I have made a connection with the girls! And it's more than just a "you buy us things to prove you love us" relationship, which I was worried about for the first little while. But this sweet child, who has a bit of a mischievous side (she is mine, after all) :), was concerned about my well being and I think had I not been feeling better, she would have prayed for me, or gone to get the whole house of girls to pray. She's a fighter, for sure, for things she wants; and I believe that she'll accomplish all that she wants to in life, given the chance (and her own hard work!).

Way #3: Rhapsodic. Revelatory. Rain.

As I sat in my room during the rainstorm, trying to listen to music on my computer at full volume, I was frustrated that I couldn't hear it, and there was no way to boost that volume. I was trying to have some down time, trying to settle myself out after a day of work and spending my energies on the relational things of life; and all I could hear was the crashing raindrops on my roof! (well that, and the soft plink, ding, plink of the one insistent drip in the pot on my floor!) I just wanted to relax...No. Really.

Then, I realized how much I was missing what little things God does for me. I finally settled myself out enough to realize that I wasn't going to hear the music from my computer, but there was something beautiful being composed on my rooftop. So I just sat on my bed and listened for a while. It was actually quite soothing and calming. And I found myself really enjoying it.

I suddenly remembered that I had not liked rainstorms for a long time, something stemming from some childhood memory. But here I was, intently and intentionally listening to the sounds of that rainstorm. I was not bothered at all. In fact, I was enjoying it. Then I felt this huge lightbulb over my head, slowly changing from a soft amber glow to a brilliant white streak!

Sometimes what I think I need isn't in fact what I need. And sometimes I try to shut out everything until all I can focus on is what I think is best. At this moment, I wanted my music to drown out the day so that I could get my head on straight and enjoy my sleep. But the rain was drowning out my intentions.

Then, this: I would have missed one of the most glorious and revelatory moments I've had in a while, if I had chosen to be stubborn and insisted on having things my way. It made me sad to think how many times I have had other things in the way and can't clearly hear what He's trying to get me to enjoy and embrace. And sometimes those things are good things...relationships, work, etc. But when I'm not hearing Him in the moment, I miss out on the things because I have filled "life" with "noise" and forgotten the true value of communication with the one I love most. I've taken Him for granted...He'll always be there. He promised not to leave me. All of those promises.

So I was thankful that He had the sense to drown out my intention with His love and mercy and the beauty and force of nature. That He sees me, past the initial, to the eternal. That He knows what things I will glean from and enjoy. That He wants to see me smile and be truly happy with all of me.