It's Raining in the House!

Have you ever gotten in the shower after being outside working, or just after a LONG tiring day and feeling SO gross? There have been times in my life when I've worked so hard and then gotten in the shower and just stood there letting the warm water pour all over me. It's so refreshing...and I just feel CLEAN! Like all the grime, dirt, and grossness of the day has just washed right off me. Showers are GREAT, and so often we don't think about what it would be like to not be able to take one.
This past Saturday I got to be a part of an amazing "first" shower experience, and I wanted to share it with you....I hope it blesses your heart as much as it blessed mine!
When Liz and Adam met Lajton and his family I don’t think they ever imagined that they’d be “adopting” 8 more children. They have been blessed with five beautiful daughters who each have their own personalities, and upon moving here they felt called to specifically work with the Roma peoples.
Adam met a young Roma boy one day and this led to meeting his 6 brothers and 1 sister. From there the relationship grew and the oldest boy became a follower the summer of 2011. Adam and Liz have had the opportunity to love and serve this family who lost their mother 5 years ago, and through this they have also had chances to minister to their father who is not a believer.
Since the oldest brother's salvation he has spent time with Adam growing and learning what it means to live for and serve Christ. His brothers and sister also have heard the Gospel and he is continually working with them to teach them more about Jesus.
Liz and Adam felt though that since these kids have become such a huge part of their life they wanted to genuinely treat them as they would their own family. If they had family members back in America who did not have running water or means to wash their clothes they would offer their home to them to use. With that, it was determined that they would invite the Roma family to their home ever Saturday for breakfast, to take showers, and to wash clothes.
The past Saturday was the first one to begin this, and I went to help Liz and Adam “maintain” the chaos. Seven of the eight Roma children showed up, and with the five girls already living there it was filled with lots of laughter, noise, and fun. The Roma family seemed a bit hesitant at first. Liz and I made breakfast and Adam came in to ask us how we thought he should handle getting the kids bathed. No one wanted it to be awkward, but the reality is when you are offering to give kids a shower who don’t often shower it is just going to be a little awkward. Adam rounded up the youngest one. He is a hilarious little boy. He is constantly trying to tickle people, acting like he is going to karate chop you; he’s just a joker! Liz and I started feeding the kids and then afterwards were able to sit down ourselves to have a bite.
When Adam and thislittle boy came out of the bathroom we cheered for the little guy and how “good” he looked. He just smiled and wandered over to the other kids playing the Wii.
Adam then told us that when he turned on the shower for this little boy he looked at Adam and said, “It’s like it’s raining in your house!” Adam laughed a little and said, “Yea. Kind of.” He then told us that this sweet little kid was standing in the shower (buck naked) dancing back and forth singing, “It’s raining in the house, it’s raining in the house!”
Liz and I busted out laughing, and then my eyes started to feel with tears as the realization that this six year old boy had never experienced a shower. How heartbreaking and how humbling! The things I take for granted are numerous, and this little guy reminded me of that in a very funny, but very impactful way. I’m very excited to see what happens from here with these Saturday mornings: to build relationships with these kids, to have the chance to love them, to serve them, to get to experience other “firsts” with them.
This was a perfect memory for the first Saturday morning with this family. I don’t know if I’ll ever take a shower again with the thought at least once crossing my mind “It’s raining in the house, it’s raining in the house!” And who knows I might even start dancing in the shower too!