Rain washing away the filth of the day…
(My drive home Picture by Lisa R.)

It has been raining all day. South Florida is now one big swimming pool. For the most part I like rain, when I am at home and snugly in my PJ’s, that is. Today I had to work while it was raining. I had to drive while it was raining (this never makes me happy). At first my thoughts went like this, “When will this end?! Is it going to rain FOREVER?!” Then it hit me, we need the rain. We need it to wash away the grime and dirt that has built up in our city, in our state, in our country. Today as the torrential downpour came, it felt as though God was taking the time to cleanse us. To stop us from our hustle and bustle giving us a moment to breath. A moment to mourn the things we have lost. A moment to rejoice in the new growth that comes after every storm. This picture of cleansing was made monumentally clearer after I had a conversation with a patient. She is young and her prognosis is no where near good. She needs a miracle…a real GOD miracle. She needs rain to come and wash away the illness that threatens to make her young child motherless. She needs rain to bring new growth and healing (I pray that God heals her). The truth is this: we ALL need rain. We need it to wash away our filth and cleanse “our” earth…allowing us to start afresh.

“…that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous” (Matthew 5:45, NIV).

So what am I thankful for today? Torrential down pours, and cleansing rains.