This week's newsletter from Karen

With all the rain we’ve had over the past few days, I remembered an article I wrote a few years ago. Thought I would share it with you again. 

Do you know where to find this girl?

In 1911 Morton’s Salt began adding the anti-caking agent, magnesium carbonate (calcium silicate today), to its salt. The company needed to come up with an illustration and slogan that would highlight to consumers that its product—common table salt—would pour freely even in damp weather. In 1914, the umbrella girl above and the slogan “When it rains, it pours” were introduced and have been part of our American culture for the past 100 years. 

I thought about this slogan in light of its intended message (when weather is bad, our product still works) vs. the common expression (when bad luck comes, it comes all at once) we use today. I thought about the illustration of the girl walking in the rain with her umbrella and carton of salt pouring out behind her vs. the picture that most likely comes to our minds when we think of ourselves experiencing downpours of bad luck. 

It struck me that as a believer, I should feel obligated to think of myself as the Morton Salt Girl in terms of the intended meaning of the phrase. When rain (trials, bad days, etc.) come into my life, I have my umbrella (my faith in Christ) to keep me dry. I also have my magnesium carbonate (the Holy Spirit) to keep me from caking (giving up, becoming paralyzed) and able move forward and pour my salt (my time, talents, and treasures) into the world around me. 

My prayer is that 100 years from now, when people will look back on the lives of the Hillcrest family, they will be able to say of us, “When it rained, they poured.”