The Rhythms of Rain

Into each life some rain must fall. –Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Welcome to our blog! With dreams and aspirations, we are a normal family dealing with the constant rhythms of life. We desire to raise happy, healthy kids who grow up to love and serve God and follow His path according to the way He designed them. We desire fulfilling careers using our own gifts, talents, and passions. We desire to be lifelong learners who are never afraid of change. We desire traveling opportunities around our great country and the world at large. We love the feeling of being awestruck by a beautiful landscape, an exquisite sunset, or a man-made marvel.

We have also navigated our fair share of heartbreak, disappointment, rejection, and other profound difficulties in our lives. The older we grow (and we are middle aged now–although we’re not quite sure how that happened!), the more we realize how little in life we can control. We have traveled through awful seasons, beautiful ones, and everything in between. We never know for sure when the next transition will happen. We have come to find out (and maybe you have too) that life rarely happens as we plan it to. While you may plan your work and work your plan, in the end you’re going to be expecting the unexpected pretty much every time.

Rain Can Fall in Many Rhythms

These realizations led us to our blog title: The Rhythms of Rain. Rain doesn’t fall in only one rhythm–far from it, in fact. Rain may mist, drizzle, downpour, or flood. Some rain delights, while other rain destroys. You may welcome the comforting sound of a light rain if your weekend plans include curling up inside with a book and a cup of hot tea, but you may despise the rain that dares to fall on your outdoor wedding. The same basic substance can be many things to us during the course of our lifetime.

With a little more age comes a little more wisdom (or at least that’s our story, and we’re sticking to it), and we are now finding a little more peace in whatever current rhythm we find ourselves. We are certainly not the first ones to attempt to learn this. The Apostle Paul wrote in Philippians 4:12, “I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need” (NKJV). Paul experienced the highest of highs and suffered the lowest of lows. He understood the rhythms of the Christian life, even if he didn’t use those exact words.

Nature’s Rhythms

God filled our creation with endless rhythms. The earth travels around the sun in its orbital rhythm; likewise, the moon does the same around the earth. The four seasons come like clockwork, one on top of the other. The tide moves in and out, twice a day. Sowing leads to reaping, and the best road to success is hard work. God had His rhythms in place before we even thought to discover them. Our desire is to work WITH the natural rhythms of life and not AGAINST them.

Our hope with this blog is to post about our own rhythms in a way that can also relate to you. We will be posting on a wide range of topics, from our homeschooling experiences and curricula we’ve found useful, to our family travels and field trips, to living with special dietary needs with all the limitations and frustrations that brings. We love the practical as well as the philosophical. We will tackle new topics all the time.

Please subscribe and follow along on our journey. We would love to have you aboard as you navigate your own rhythms.