Yay for Rain!

There's a scripture I discovered in Seminary two years ago that, for whatever reason, stuck in my head. It's 1 Corinthians 10:13 and it reads,

"There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the tempation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it."

At the time I kind of just thought this meant the Lord would provide a yogurt next to the icecream or maybe a quick flashback of where the door was in the middle of a shady movie. Or maybe even a friend who pulls you from the temptation of being low on yourself. And I think this I part of it. But lately I've been able to see a slightly different example.

It was raining the other day and, where I come from, the gloomy metaphor of a rainy day doesn't make much sense. When it rains, people gasp and cheer. They go sit out on their porch to watch it or roll down their car windows to smell it. They mutter prayers of thanks and, at the beginging of my seminary class, I've even had a few of my classmates dart out the door to dance in it. As my seminary teacher so sarcastically put it, "You'd think we lived in Arizona or something."

So me and my baby brother went for a walk. It was just a little sprinkle at the time, nothing much. But, in reality, it was a whole lot.

We saw not one, but two rainbows, raced up a hill, got free laffy-taffys (thanks Alicia!), and passed a man with a skeptic look, "You're going for a walk in the rain?" he asked.

"Yes!" I exclaimed, throwing my head back and feeling the cool sprinkles on my face, "That's the best time to!"

We also saw my cousin and raced some more once we hit the dirt road of my uncle's farm. Seth began to open up on every topic from videogames to the weather. From kindergarten to our dogs. From  misquito bites to the 'secret ways' he saw on our path. His little voice and stuttered words could probably be heard the whole way.  

By the time we got back, I felt more relaxed than I'd felt in a long time. My perspective seemed a little clearer and my worries smaller. Despite the age difference of about twelve years, I even felt a little closer to the little boy wearing a monstertruck shirt and unmatching sweats and carrying two rotting corn cobs to throw into the ditch.

I think sometimes that 'way of escape' isn't always just an alternative to the temptation. Sometimes its just a moment to get things together. A good morning run, a moment of laughter, a few minutes for prayer and scriptures, a smile, or maybe even some much-needed sleep. He knows we go through a lot down here and I think likes to provide something to strengthen or enliven us so that when the temptation to do something--or not do something--shows up, we can turn it down. He knows we can.

As the end of the verse says, "but will with the tempation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it."

I believe He sees and enjoys those little things too. He created us each individually and knows what we need. He will never leave us comfortless.