When It Rains, It Pours

When it rains, it pours.



I say that as large, black, ominous clouds pile
up over the roof of my house. The wind is beginning to pick up and it looks like we're in for a real storm. It seems scary, almost as if a tornado could jump up from nowhere at any moment. *Think Dorothy when she couldn't get into her cellar.* One thing is, we sure do need the rain...there has been a drought here for a while.



I remember telling my husband in January, "This year feels like 'the' year." The year for things to go wrong. Well, I was right, but not gladly. These are the times when I wish I was wrong. I really don't know why I would think something like that, but I do believe God put that in my mind and heart for as preparation for all that was coming.

At the top of my long list of things going wrong is my Dad. He has cancer. Cancer in his kidney and possible cancer in his lung and who knows where else. I don't know what to think or say. I feel disconnected from the reality that my Dad could really be sick. I want to see my Dad be okay and to be healed by God. I also want to allow this rain to help quench my own personal drought.

Drought. It's a place many live and sometimes stay for a very long time. I've been there a while myself. Stagnant. Thirsty. Empty. A spiritual wasteland. When in drought, there's not much to get by on. No rain, no food. No food, no growth. No growth, no life. Then comes the rain. It knocks you down with it's weight and you feel like you are being pummeled. It may rain one day. It may rain a whole month.

That rain, the storm, those trials bring life into perspective. It awakens a new sense of what really matters to God and a question of why there is a neglect of what matters to Him. It is a good place to be and in this place a child of God can move forward instead being stagnant or falling back. The rain can drive us headlong into a deeper dependance on Him. Isn't that the best place in the storm? Under His wings? Safely abiding. Constantly abiding. When it rains, it pours and I am thankful for every drop because it is there that we grow the most.

Beauty in the Midst of Sadness

We lost another grandpa, father and father-in-law. Brian's stepfather passed away last Thursday. We made it just in time to see him before he died. Brian's family was waiting for us at the hospital at 12 midnight. They were taking Daddy Joe off of life support and it didn't take long for him to drift off into eternity. He was such a kind man. Not one for words, but he was a hard-working, gentle grandpa. My only regret is that we did not get to spend as much time with him as we could have over the years.

If only we could keep the TV off and talk more. There's not much time. If only we could stop texting and laugh together in person. There's not much time. If only we could realize every day could be our last. We'd focus on what *is* important and let all that other stuff go. Did you show love like you wanted to? This is what I'm thinking about.

In the middle of sadness I was able to get this picture of Sophia. Just another reminder of the beauty of life. The Lord gives and takes away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.

What Little I Know

Well, I'm sending out an S.O.S. I'm asking all of whoever you are to pray for my father-in-law. He fell four days ago and injured his head. They rushed him to the hospital to surgically remove a hematoma that he developed in his brain as a result of his falling. Today we got word that he flatlined yesterday and lost oxygen to his brain while the doctors tried to revive him. The doctors also found another hematoma on the stem of his brain and they say that even if he survives the next surgery that he will possibly be a vegetable for the rest of his life.

I'm praying for a miracle.