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 innocence¹. It was pouring outside. The kind of rain that gushes² over the top of rain gutters³, so much in a hurry to hit the Earth it has no time to flow down the spout⁴.

We all stood there under the awning⁵ 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 mesmerized⁶ 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 reprieve⁷ 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 tugged⁸ 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!' " ( to be continued)

她和妈妈刚在沃尔玛购完物。这个天真的小女孩应该6岁大了，头发是美丽的棕色，脸上有雀斑。外面下着倾盆大雨。雨水溢满了檐槽，来不及排走，就迫不及待地涌向了大地。

我们都站在沃尔玛门口的遮篷下。大家在等待，有的人很耐心，也有人烦躁，因为老天在给他们本已忙碌的一天添乱。雨天总引起我的遐思。我出神地听着、看着老天洗刷冲走这世界的污垢和尘埃，孩时无忧无虑地在雨中奔跑玩水的记忆汹涌而至，暂时缓解了我这一天的焦虑。

小女孩甜美的声音打破了这令人昏昏欲睡的气氛，“妈妈，我们在雨里跑吧。”她说。

“什么？”母亲问。

“我们在雨里跑吧。”她重复。

“不，亲爱的，我们等雨小一点再走。”母亲回答说。

过了一会小女孩又说：“妈妈，我们跑出去吧。”

“这样的话我们会湿透的。”母亲说。

“不会的，妈妈。你今天早上不是这样说的。”小女孩一边说一边拉着母亲的手。

“今天早上？我什么时候说过我们淋雨不会湿啊？”

“你不记得了吗？你和爸爸谈他的癌症时，你不是说‘如果上帝让我们闯过这一关，那我们就没有什么过不去了。’”（待续）