In the middle of rain, she stretched her arms out and lifted her head to the sky, trying to catch every drop on her face. A few minutes earlier, she had been stomping in puddles, making sure she didn’t miss one. It didn’t take long for me to realize this child and I had different perspectives about the moment. I passed her on my walk, but instead of playing in the rain, I hurried to make it home without getting drenched. As I stood in my kitchen, shaking water out of my hair, I thought about the quote, “Some people feel the rain. Others just get wet.”
I wondered if I am the person who just gets wet. It’s easy for me to be so busy with life that I forget to stop and savor the present. Every second we live is a present moment that passes, and we often let them slip by without even noticing.
I was reading in my devotional about living in the present. Even the name declares how precious it is, and now I’m curious about how “the moment in time” came to be called the present. Could it be God’s plan, because the present is a gift to be cherished? The present isn’t wrapped in glossy paper but made up of small moments. In fact, those moments can seem so insignificant that we allow the world to distract us from them. We miss out on opening the present.
It’s been a joy to watch our dogs, Mabel, Maddie, and Moose grow up and become therapy dogs. Socializing them as puppies was an important part of the process. I took them out often to just enjoy the world! It was a joy to experience all of the “firsts.” Some of those first moments made them apprehensive, but before too long they were jumping and feeling joyful about the situation. During those moments, they savored every rain drop.
As we embark on the holiday season, many “present” moments are waiting. 2024 will be here before we know it and I want to be present for every moment. I want to soak them in and savor their beauty. God shows up with surprises, and even the most mundane 
moments can be filled with “presents” if we look closely.
I want to see the world the same way that little girl felt the rain. She didn’t waste any of it, and she certainly wasn’t too busy to miss the joy. What if we all looked at our days with that kind of glorious anticipation, ready for every moment, not willing to waste even one. We just might find joy and praise, even in the struggles. What a present that would be!
2024 is almost here, and it will be filled with presents. What will you do with them? I’m ready to live in every moment, soaking and savoring, even if I get a little wet.