a curious sound

i was getting ready for bed last night when i heard a curious sound.
it was a sound i recognized. a sound i missed.
it was rain on my tile roof!
just a little bit of rain.... but rain!

about a month ago, it sprinkled a tiny bit.
but other than that, i can't remember the last time it rained.
it's definitely been a few months.
that's normal. i mean, it IS dry season.
but everything is so brown and dead and ugly.
the ground is cracked and dry.
and the sun just blazes down on us every day until it feels too hot to move.
i think somewhere down in the farmer part of my soul, i've just been craving rain.

so last night, i ran outside and stood in my front yard and got rained on.
i was thanking God for this rain. and then i started thinking. about kenya.

this week i heard from a guy who was my neighbor when i lived there.
he's been going out into the bush villages to check on people.
he went to one village and met a widow there.
she has 6 children and she takes care of her father-in-law as well.
her mother-in-laws died of aids.
they usually dig down in the riverbed to find water underground.
but this week, they dug down to rock.
there was no water.
it has not rained in that village for two years.

it was bittersweet as i celebrated the rain last night.
i felt like i could hear the dirt and the plants singing as they swallowed the rain.
but my mind was on my kenyan family...

so after i thanked God for the rain, i told Him africa could have it instead.
and then it stopped raining.
and i went to bed.