pray for rain.

Josh was checking the weather report at about 2pm. This Josh is the one that works with me, not to be confused with any other Joshes who may or may not call me in the middle of the night. Apparently Joshua was a popular name about twenty-five years ago. Anyway, the one that was checking the weather report read aloud, "Heavy thunderstorms from 3pm until midnight." Josh was excited. He had a softball game that he didn't want to play. He said his team was going to get creamed. Josh can stand losing a game by 3 runs, but when he faces the prospect of losing a game by 20 runs, he'd just as soon pray for rain.

About an hour later, I heard thunder. I don't have a window in my office, so I go across the hall to Josh's to remind myself what the world outside my office looks like. I trotted over to see rain pouring not down, but sideways. The tree right outside was whipping every which way and showing us the underside of every single leaf. Small tree limbs were being washed up the hill next to the building. I asked Josh just how well he was in with God to get results like that when he didn't want to play a softball game. Mark ran down the hall past the door, crying, "I left my windows down!" Josh looked out in awe and said, "Man, I'm glad I didn't park underneath the tree." And then I said, "Oh." I always park under the tree. Then Josh leaned back, satisfied, in his chair, confident that there would be no game. He gestured proudly out the window as if he himself had created it, saying that he'd never been in a hurricane, but that this was how he imagined one would be. I have been in a hurricane, I told him. "This weather is like a hurricane. Well, a really far inland hurricane." I stared at Josh in amazement, and started thinking about things that I could get him to ask God to do for me.

Mark came back in, his inch-long hair all leaning the same way. "A tree branch fell right in between Sandra's and Lee's cars. You got lucky." We would all later find out that only I had been lucky. The tree branch fell right on Lee's car, and then rolled off to land in the empty space between our two cars.

The storm lasted only a quarter-hour or so before the window showed us a typical sunny Southern summer day again. Josh left at 4, prepared to go home and watch a movie in his pajamas, not play softball. The next morning I came in and asked him how he'd enjoyed his lazy evening completely devoid of softball.

"The game didn't get cancelled."

"What? How is that possible?"

"They called me and said the field was fine."

"Aw, man, that sucks. I'm sorry. How was the game?"

"We won."

"What? I thought you said you were going to get killed."

"I thought we were. But then we came back in the last inning and won."

"Man, God is laughing at you right now."

"Yeah, I know."