"God’s love is just as messy as the rain. He tends to soak us to the bone at the times we least expect it. It causes confusion and alters our plans. It can be freezing or warm, thunderous or soft. But it never leaves us crisp, neat, and dry. There is a temptation to pull out our spiritual umbrellas and hold off the downpour rather than get drenched. My physical umbrella may get dusty under my bed, but my spiritual umbrella is rarely far from my hip. God’s thunderstorms are scary.

And so my prayer today is that one day we will forget the word “umbrella.” We will splash in the puddles, play in the snow, and sweat in the heat. We will acknowledge rain and love for what they are: wet. And given that knowledge, we will happily go get soaked, and maybe even pretend to be airplanes."