rain

Sometimes I'm in that dry and thirsty place where I just need. We're running a marathon at work right now, a marathon of projections and budgets and auditors and an acquisition and inventory questions and now more auditors and ~ I keep thinking that we will take a breath and slow down and think and it doesn't come and I am so thirsty and I need.

The Bible says, "Selah." Pause. Think.

Selah.

I'm so grateful for the co-workers who ask me how I am. And mean it. And I'm thankful for the one who saw that I needed and wrote a funny note of encouragement on my board. Sometimes it's hard to admit that I need. I'm supposed to be strong and experienced and a can-do person. (Actually, I am strong and experienced and a can-do person!) I can be all those things and still need. It's okay to need. I'm reading a book by Leslie Parrott titled The First Drop of Rain. I've been fascinated by part of a poem that she wrote:

...Never forget,
Your heart is a spring.
Living waters flow in you.
And just the grace of your presence
Brings life all around you.
Never feel small.
Someone has to be
The first drop of rain.

This morning, on my way to church, the fog blanketed the earth and saturated it with moisture. I read recently about how such a very small amount of water can create a large amount of fog.

So what is my point? I'm not sure!

Maybe it's this... That when I need, I will remember that God's living water is a spring of life in me. I will look for the first drop of rain that a caring co-worker offers by asking how I am. And that out of need, I am still able to give... By listening to my daughter-in-law when she is hurting. By bringing a vase of dahlias~astonishing and glorious~to a stressed co-worker to remind her that there is beauty. This is not all there is to life.

God, may the grace of my presence, of Your presence in me, bring life all around me. Make me the first drop of rain.

lots

There's lots going on with people right now.

• A. (young mother of two) will have another coil inserted tomorrow for her aneurysm.
• C. and D. wait to hear test results from the oncologist.
• J. is losing his home and business.
• S. continues to look for work in this very discouraging economy.
  

And so it goes.

I've been thinking lately about Psalm 73:24-25... a good reminder for difficult times.

"You guide me with Your counsel,
leading me to a glorious destiny.
Whom have I in heaven but You?
I desire You more than anything on earth."

Do I? Do I truly believe and look forward to that glorious destiny? Because if I do, it will provide perspective and peace. Do I desire God more than anything on earth? It is a dangerous prayer, a daring prayer.

Such a desire secures my destiny.

kitties

Candice is very talented - she belongs to a postcard club where she creates and mails original artwork to other members.

This is one that she did while she visited us... She truly captured the personality of each cat in only a few penstrokes (those Copic pens are awesome)! The drawing of Dot is truly inspired, because that is Dot's usual position (but don't dare rub that bunny-soft tummy or else)!

fall

I stopped in my tracks. Not entirely uncommon for me when I notice something on my run.

This truly caught me by surprise. As I rounded the corner, the sidewalk before me was sprinkled with autumn splendor.

I'm not ready - where did the summer go?

Asking the question raises another question - have I been present and attentive to the sights, sounds and moments of the past hours, days, weeks?