When it rains in Southern California, Californians duck inside.
Malls are empty, people don’t walk their dogs, some people keep their kids home from school, and a lot of us don’t own umbrellas. None of us wear rain boots, we don’t know what rain COATS look like and if we’re hungry, we order pizza or Chinese delivery.
And God forbid if it rains on a Sunday because if it does, the pews will be vacant.
I’m exaggerating a little, but in reality, we really don’t know what to do with “weather”.
Now if I lived in another part of the world, perhaps like where my sister-in-law lives, I might have my own pair of Wellies and a bucket by the front door full of umbrellas. Each of my kids would have all-weather coats and wouldn’t be tempted to splash in puddles because puddles are as old hat to them as tumbleweeds are to us.
Rain wouldn’t stop us in our tracks because rain would be a part of our lives on a daily basis.
Weather scares Californians because we aren’t used to it.
And I do all I can to make my life as comfortable as possible. Don’t you? I don’t like change. I don’t like a lack of routine. And I do NOT like having to dodge the water-filled potholes that the rain creates.
It’s only because I’m scared. And whenever I’m scared of something it stops me.
Like a Californian on a freeway when it drizzles.
I look at my life and wonder where I’m stopped or flooded. I’m such a rain pansy. Where have I let the fear of spinning out or getting caught in a pothole take over?
“STORM WATCH 2010″ I laugh to myself.
Am I stuck in the same ministry because I’m worried I won’t be good at anything else? Am I fearful of beginning new friendships because I think [gasp] she might not like me once she finds out all my junk? Do I not say the hard thing to someone because I’m afraid that they might stop wanting to hang out? Or what about my future? Am I scared to trust God with my whole future because I’m scared of what He might ask me to do?
I’m so dang comfortable sometimes that I know I’m not used to the deluge of rain. I just want to duck inside, light a fire in my gas fireplace and make myself a cup of coffee.
Oh, but the rain, the abnormal, out-of-character Orange County rain is so good for us. It makes our hills green, it refills our reservoirs, and it for sure creates the need in us to come out of our comfortable, dry-weather lives.
So I have to welcome the rain, the out-of-the-ordinary, change-inducing rain. I have to ask the Lord to alter me, to put me in situations that cause me to think on my feet and to function outside of the routine within which I am comfortable.
It is the only thing that will get me from here to where I want to be: comfortable in a rain coat and Wellies.
Are you a rain sissy? Do you resist change?
I am the rare southern Californian that LOVES the rain (though I don’t have a clue as to where my umbrella is!) but I am scared to death of the storms of life.
Being caught in the midst of one right now, I do find myself afraid. I fear the change that is coming. I realize I don’t fully trust God and his perfect plan for my life, that this storm will indeed usher in a beautiful spring. I don’t know how to do that yet. I don’t know how to trust…
… but I am trying.
Sarah,
I’ll always be a Californian in heart & soul, but now I’m physically ten months removed. Yep, I don’t mind the rain, but could definitely do without it. Despite that, it continues falling. They say it does that a lot on this side of the map. I love the sun; it’s light, it’s warmth.
Lately, I’ve been a little more daring with my trust in God and what He wants me to do. I’m still a little hesitant every once in a while because I want to SEE where I’m going. He’s been making some major changes in me over the past few months. Currently, I’m standing in a storm, but I’ve been okay with “forgetting” my umbrella because I’m excited about what wonderful things He has in store for me.
I just found you yesterday, and have read many of your archives. What an inspiration you are, I have been going through a rain storm for awhile and I know in my heart God is preparing me for something wonderful if nothing more than complete reliance on him. Thank you for sharing your heart, may God’s blessing shower you….
i am laughing with you on this one because, we recently moved to san diego from chicago, and one of the first things we noticed was that people in ca do not do well in rain!
we showed up once to a my older son’s soccer practice where it was ’sprinkling’ as we would call it in the midwest, and no one else showed up!
since moving to nc, we have been experiencing weather a little more like the midwest! i really like the crazy weather and i really really missed the crazy weather in sd!
change always seems a little easier for me in the beginning. after a while, after i realize what has happened is when i seem to freak out. not sure why that happens. i guess maybe it takes a while for it all to sink in.
i’m a serious sissy when it comes to change. i wish it wasn’t so, but as i learn to rely on Him more and more for each moment, the sissiness (if that’s a word!) wanes. He does know the end of the story and for that i’m so thankful!
Other than the “weather rain” ( we live in Pensacola, FL-hurricanes) you took the words right out of my mouth……
I am just like you described. If left to myself I would totally live in the cocoon of “comfortable”. I haven’t prayed in a long time for God to rock my world, pull me out of the comfort zone I love so, but I think I will start again today. I do pray on a continual basis that God would continue to make me unrecognizable to myself and others in a good way, continually changing me in to who He created me to be-but it’s not quite the same.
Good check this morning-thanks for the wake up.
I have a vision of myself wearing classic green Wellies with a pack of Irish wolfhounds running around in a range rover on my English estate. My dream.
I tend not to like change.
But change I must; we just received the news that I’m pregnant with our first baby! In honor of the change to come, and nod to my UK calling, this is my response to the change coming in my life.
baby wellies:
http://www.jileon.com/sm_uploaded_files/product_images/164.1.jpg
When I visited my sister in Chicago I was like: dude, this weather will change your life. I have no idea what weather is. SoCal has been my only home. It’s always barbie dolls and sunshine out here.
It cracks me up so much when you or other Californians tweet about weather. I don’t understand it at all. There’s nothing fearful about rain. It can’t hurt you. It’s not even very dangerous to drive in. We don’t have it ALL THE TIME but we’re not deterred by it either. Actually, I think we kind of like the moody weather. It keeps us on our toes.
And I kind of like change. I think it’s because I’m never that content and I always want something better. I always hope that change will bring something better
It’s kind of funny how a fear that feels so justified often makes sense to no one else, and how what we fear the most usually isn’t as bad as we anticipated.
wow…I think you need to get out more….get out of that rut….NOW !
you’re too young to be like this….weather is an amazing thing….we live for the weather channel here in wisconsin, since everyday is a new experience….want to come visit ?
OR
just check out my blog post today to see what you’re missing…and the one before that, too…but with your girls, since I know they will fall in love with my furry little friend
Great post Sarah! I must say that I would really welcome the calm, storm-less life!
) There has been a lot of rain, it has been a perpetual downpour for a few years now and just when we think we might get a glimpse of the rainbow, the clouds roll in from a completely different direction. AHHH! I know that God is preparing us, working in us, changing us. When do we draw close to him and really listen–sadly for me it is in these times of the “storms”! So I can say I have been really pushed to seek Him, Know Him and Desire Him in my life above anything or anyone else. Thanks for such great, challenging posts!
What a great post! I’ve just recently found my way to your blog and have to say that almost every day you’ve written something that just twisted my heart. Today was particularly good as we are praying through many decisions and just for the future.
I think your question: “Am I scared to trust God with my whole future because I’m scared of what He might ask me to do?” really cuts to the heart of many of the things I am struggling with. I know where the rain storm is and what is coming, but I’m still hiding out in my house by the fireside. Thanks for the encouragement.
Love the post and where you go with it, Sarah. So true, so true, metaphorically speaking! Glad to hear that you are welcoming the change-inducing rain. A good place for boots, by the way, is your Orchard Hardware or True Value hardware. Not fancy, but serviceable and cheap.
I have to affectionately push back a little though against the “O.C.-centricity” of your assumptions, though. You use the term “Californian” very loosely!
In other words, does the behavior of Southern Californians truly reflect the behavior of the rest of our great state? I know Aaron Spelling and Hollywood would like the world to believe it, but it ain’t necessarily so!
Northern Californians are of hardier stock, I assure you. Maybe not as tough as those sub-zero midwesterners, but not afraid of rain, for sure. Or fog. Or even snow, for my northernmost state-mates. LOL Otherwise we’d be living in fear all winter.
Clearly, “weather” is just a relative term. Whatever is different than expected could be called “weather”, regardless of where you’re from . . . weather must be good for us. Uncertainty is the prerequisite for faith, after all.
Hugs,
judy
We in the Pacific Northwest just try to ignore the rain. I rarely use an umbrella unless I’m going to be sitting in the rain (watching sports). I never wear my boots unless I’m going to the beach during winter/spring.
I just get tired of the endless gray days and misty rain. Then again, we have this glorious green, so that’s the price we pay.