For awhile there last summer it seemed like it rained every night. The thunder called out to me, shaking my bed and tearing me from my slumber. I would call out questions in my dreams, and open my eyes a second later to the sound of gentle ripples or angry crackling. It was the only time I ever felt like God was speaking directly with me, but by that point all I could think was "Is that all you can do? Is my soul really worth that little to you?"

And after it was over, the feeling was so strange. It was like I'd been fearfully creeping towards a pit of fire for the past several months, but once I finally fell in, the fire disappeared. Like bracing myself for the worst pain imaginable, but nothing happens. I felt completely unburdened, and free.