She had been shopping with her Mom in Wal-Mart. She must have been 6 years old, this beautiful brown haired, freckle-faced image of innocence. It was pouring outside. The kind of rain that gushes over the top of rain gutters, so much in a hurry to hit the Earth it has no time to flow down the spout.

　　We all stood there under the awning and just inside the door of the Wal-Mart. We waited, some patiently, others 4)irritated because nature messed up their hurried day. I am always mesmerized by rainfall. I get lost in the sound and sight of the heavens washing away the dirt and dust of the world. Memories of running, splashing so carefree as a child come pouring in as a welcome reprieve from the worries of my day.

　　Her voice was so sweet as it broke the hypnotic trance we were all caught in. "Mom, let's run through the rain," she said.

　　"What?" Mom asked.

　　"Let's run through the rain!" She repeated.

　　"No, honey. We'll wait until it slows down a bit," Mom replied.

　　This young child waited about another minute and repeated: "Mom, let's run through the rain."

　　"We'll get soaked if we do," Mom said.

　　"No, we won't, Mom. That's not what you said this morning," the young girl said as she tugged at her Mom's arm."

　　"This morning? When did I say we could run through the rain and not get wet?"

　　"Don't you remember? When you were talking to Daddy about his cancer, you said, 'If God can get us through this, he can get us through anything!"

　　The entire crowd stopped dead silent. I swear you couldn't hear anything but the rain. We all stood silently. No one came or left in the next few minutes. Mom paused and thought for a moment about what she would say.

　　Now some would laugh it off and scold her for being silly. Some might even ignore what was said. But this was a moment of affirmation in a young child's life. Time when innocent trust can be nurtured so that it will bloom into faith. "Honey, you are absolutely right. Let's run through the rain. If get wet, well maybe we just needed washing," Mom said. Then off they ran.

　　We all stood watching, smiling and laughing as they darted past the cars and. They held their shopping bags over their heads just in case. They got soaked. But they were followed by a few who screamed and laughed like children all the way to their cars. And yes, I did. I ran. I got wet. I needed washing. Circumstances or people can take away your material possessions, they can take away your money, and they can take away your health. But no one can ever take away your precious memories. So, don't forget to make time and take the opportunities to make memories every day!

　　To everything there is a season and a time to every purpose under heaven. I hope you still take the time to run through the rain.




Run Through the Rain 雨中的記憶
　　她和媽媽剛在沃爾瑪購完物。這個天真的小女孩應該6歲大了，頭發是美麗的棕色，臉上有雀斑。外面下著傾盆大雨。雨水溢滿了檐槽，來不及排走，就迫不及待地涌向了大地。

　　我們都站在沃爾瑪門口的遮篷下。大家在等待，有的人很耐心，也有人煩躁，因為老天在給他們本已忙碌的一天添亂。雨天總引起我的遐思。我出神地聽著、看著老天洗刷沖走這世界的污垢和塵埃，孩時無憂無慮地在雨中奔跑玩水的記憶洶涌而至，暫時緩解了我這一天的焦慮。

　　小女孩甜美的聲音打破了這令人昏昏欲睡的氣氛，“媽媽，我們在雨里跑吧，”她說。

　　“什么？”母親問。

　　“我們在雨里跑吧，”她重復。

　　“不，親愛的，我們等雨小一點再走，”母親回答說。

　　過了一會小女孩又說：“媽媽，我們跑出去吧。”

　　“這樣的話我們會濕透的，”母親說。

　　“不會的，媽媽。你今天早上不是這樣說的。”小女孩一邊說一邊拉著母親的手。

　　“今天早上？我什么時候說過我們淋雨不會濕啊？”

　　“你不記得了嗎？你和爸爸談他的癌癥時，你不是說‘如果上帝讓我們闖過這一關，那我們就沒有什么過不去了。’”

　　人群一片寂靜。我發誓，除了雨聲，你什么都聽不到。我們都靜靜地站著。接下來的幾分鐘沒有一個人走動。母親停了一下，在想著應該說些什么。

　　有人也許會對此一笑了之，或者責備這孩子的不懂事，有人甚至不把她的話放在心上。但這卻是一個小孩子一生中需要被肯定的時候。若受到鼓舞，此時孩子單純的信任就會發展成為堅定的信念。“親愛的，你說得對，我們跑過去吧。如果淋濕了，那也許是因為我們的確需要沖洗一下了，”母親說。然后她們就沖出去了。

　　我們站在那里，笑著看她們飛快地跑過停著的汽車。他們把購物袋高舉過頭想擋擋雨，但還是濕透了。好幾個人像孩子般尖叫著，大笑著，也跟著沖了出去，奔向自己的車子。當然，我也這樣做了，跑了出去，淋濕了。我也需要接受洗禮。環境或其他人可以奪去你的物質財富，搶走你的金錢，帶走你的健康，但沒有人可以帶走你珍貴的回憶。因此，記得要抓緊時間，抓住機會每天都給自己留下一些回憶吧！

　　世間萬物皆有自己的季節，做任何事情也有一個恰當的時機。希望你有機會在雨中狂奔一回。