I’ve always said my husband was born a city boy in a small midwest town and loving God before he ever knew Him. I was born a rebel without a cause so thank God He and Derek found me or I think I might be 30 and still on my senior trip in Cancun.
One night in college Derek was sitting on his college house porch reading his Bible, looking for answers and a sign that God really is who He says He is. Rain was flooding the ground as he read a passage about the grace God has for us. It was in that moment God began to show him that His grace is like the rain that was falling down all around him. The rain gives life to all things, no matter how tired or worn out. It washes away all of the bad to bring the best things forward. It nourishes the flowers and makes the grass grow. It washes the dirty streets. After the rain the world always smells fresh and new, giving even wilting things a second chance. God taught Derek His grace is like the rain.
When we started dating it rained on our first 5 or 6 dates. We nervously laugh-joked that maybe this was a bad sign. We were shopping at Kansas City’s outdoor plaza and it was raining…of coarse it was. Derek grabbed my hand and drug me out into the water. He twirled me around and asked me to dance. People were scurrying in and out of buildings trying to escape being soaked and there we were dancing, laughing and drenched. And if your still reading and haven’t choked on the cheesy rom com scene… while we were dancing Derek gave me a new vision for the rain and for us. He said he thought it was a good thing, all our soggy dates and weather induced change of plans. It meant we would endure all things, in meant we could survive anything because we had learned to dance in the rain together. Oh to have known then, my little 19 year old self, the storms we would face-yet we settled on the rain being a good thing…our thing.
Derek asked me to marry him on a scorching hot August night, not a cloud in the sky. All the moisture that evening was dripping and draining from all our own hot, sticky, soggy parts. He popped the question and before he could hop to his feet it rained for about 3 minutes. And on our (outdoor) wedding day rain was our greatest fear. Yet after our ceremony, just before pictures, it rained for about 5 minutes leaving a big rainbow stretched across the sky. God has always revealed himself to us through the rain. Somehow rain has always been a part of our story.
We’ve been talking about baby names for years and years sorting through trendy names, silly names, names for boys and names for girls but only one name has been near and dear to our hearts through and through. When we got the call that we were matched, that we were going to have a baby boy we knew his name would be Rainn. Rainn has always been a part of us. He has always been a part of our story.
It rained the day we left Kansas City, it rained for every take off and landing of the 4 flights it took us to get to Alaska. Flying through the Dallas tornado was an extremity of the metaphor and a little unnecessary but sentimental non the less. It rained in Kansas City that whole January 7th day.
When he decided to make his grand entrance into this world, almost 4 weeks ago, we were anxiously awaiting him with the only name we could have ever had for him. His short life has already nourished worn out relationships, brought new hope and new starts to us all. Rainn is a constant reminder of God’s steadfast love and goodness.