Some People Walk In The Rain...

"Some people walk in the rain... others just get wet."

I know a girl who has a magnet on her refrigerator with that phrase on it.

The other day it was raining hard. I love the rain 99% of the time, but as I peeked out of the Beamer Center doors, hoping in vain for break in the clouds, I was not excited. I was in a tank top and a thin cotton skirt and I was going to have to go all the way (a whopping three blocks) back to my apartment in the cold and wet.

Just as I was about to despairingly make a run for it, that magnet popped into my head. Did I want to get wet, or did I want to walk in the rain? It was unavoidable that I was going to get wet anyway, unless I felt like waiting in the student center for the rest of the night, so I might as well have fun with it, right?

I didn't make a run for it. I strolled leisurely back to Terrace, and I laughed out loud at the feel of the drops on my skin. The sidewalks were filled with puddles and I'm not even gonna lie... I totally jumped in all of them. Really hard. My skirt was soaked to mid-thigh just from the splash. Sweet.

I was going to have to get wet, but instead I got to take a walk in the rain, because a phrase from Mary's fridge jumped into my head at just the right time.

That girl's taught me a lot about walking in the rain. About being playful and present in every single day. About standing in awe at the art with which our God has painted the world. About noticing and celebrating the unique plan He has for each person He has put on this planet and in my path.

Throughout high school...

throughout college...

without ever realizing she was doing it, she has taught me (and so many others)...

that we can go to school, or we can form community;

we can meet our classmates, or we can reach out to them with genuine interest;

we can live with their families, or we can work to understand them;

we can experience disappointment and grow bitter, or we can feel our pain, pour it out to God and let Him meet us in it (and become more beautiful for the experience);

we can participate in a small group, or we can add safety and positivity to a room full of very different girls;

we can talk to people, or we can empower every (every, every, EVERY) person with whom we interact with the knowledge that God loves them, has a plan for them, that they are worthy of being loved and have much to offer and are cherished.

Some people smile, and others change the atmosphere of a room.

Our friendship has taught me that we can just have graduation parties, or we can (smirk) invite everyone we've ever known into my kitchen and excitedly introduce them all to each other while the rest of the neighborhood tries in vain to find parking...

Some people visit their best friends at college, while others manage to form ridiculous bonds with their roommates and make their professors laugh and otherwise own the campus of Wheaton College in three days.

We can feel self-conscious, or we can laugh at ourselves (yes, we threw cake all over each other's faces... just like at a wedding).

Some people go on "missions trips", and others find- create- homes across the world by loving the people they meet. Some people teach us to love God by how hard they seek after Him themselves. Some people show us His humor, goodness, and grace by displaying such characteristics themselves.

And now...

some people go away to school.

And others sit by ponds, meet new people, take drawing classes, go sailing, and praise God.

I am so lucky to have you as a true bosom friend, Mary Elise Gottschalk.