head to toe memories

We have gotten so much rain this month and it has been WONDERFUL!!!! With so many years of drought we are literally soaking up the sweet sweet rain! One recent afternoon we were feeling especially spontaneous and decided to go outside as a family and run around in the rain. The boys, of course, had to strip down to their shorts only (we're lucky that's as far as it went...) while Brandon and I splashed each other in puddles. We laughed a lot, we screamed when we were splashed and we ran from each other as fast as we could. It was a blast!

As the rain fell and we became soaked from head to literal toe I couldn't help but reminisce about a day just over two years ago when the boys and I went to our friend Jill's house and played in the rain with her, Seth and Gray. It was spring break. Gray had just suspended his cancer treatment and was on hospice care. Jill was unsure about letting him run in the rain but she and Gray taught me a huge life lesson that day...live in the moment. It is something that we say all the time but something that is much harder to live out. And honestly "living in the moment" is something I didn't understand until that spring break day. Now, over two years since little Gray went to be with Jesus, I still think about him and all he taught me often. Playing in the rain with my family brought all of that rushing back.

The rain boots that my boys were wearing that playful day with Seth and Gray are still sitting in my laundry room in the exact way they were the day we came home, soaked to the bone and shook them off before coming into the house. The boys have long since grown out of them but I just can't part with them. I see them every single day and while they bring both joy and tears they always remind me of that beautiful, sweet, drenching rain and the lesson I learned to simply LIVE!