Singin' in the Rain

Like many of you, I spent many November days glumly staring out the window at dreary, rainy weather.  What a change from those balmy Indian Summer days!  Our leaves turn and fall sooner than most places and there's nothing like a hard rain to bring them down even quicker.  Add to that the blustery winds which have buffeted our little house on the prairie and you've got bare-naked trees in no time!  But as I watched the gray sheets of rain folding down out of the heavens, I realized what a blessings it is.  It's crucial that the trees have abundant rain just before resting for the winter.  It gives them such a good start in the spring.  It's not the beautiful bridal lace of snow that replenishes the water table.  No, it's the drab blue collar rains of November that fill our wells and irrigation ponds for the future growing season.

God knows what is necessary and He provides it in spite of our petulant wishes.  Now I can look outside and see the fresh, new green of a winter crop covering the potato fields like a Christmas chia pet.  Canadian Geese gather by the hundreds in shorn corn fields picking up leftovers, preparing to move on once waters are frozen.  Flocks of starlings happily dig for worms, thankful for a reprieve from early winter.  I'm certainly grateful to have mild weather while I'm hanging the outdoor Christmas lights!  What a blessing to be able to travel to the chiropractor, the store or the bank without anxiously watching the skies for a sudden blizzard!

"Truth springs from the earth, And righteousness looks down from heaven. Indeed, the LORD will give what is good, And our land will yield its produce."  Psalm 85:10-12 

Rest assured, winter will be along soon enough.  Once again I'll sit at the window mesmerized by the silent flakes making muffled marshmallows of every feature in the yard.  Then we'll cancel our travel plans for the day and settle in for winter's rest.  Until then, I'll anticipate lush gardens springing forth from this abundance of rain.  God is soooooooo good!!

"He sends forth springs in the valleys; They flow between the mountains; They give drink to every beast of the field; The wild donkeys quench their thirst. Beside them the birds of the heavens dwell; They lift up their voices among the branches.  He waters the mountains from His upper chambers; The earth is satisfied with the fruit of His works.  He causes the grass to grow for the cattle,  And vegetation for the labor of man,  So that he may bring forth food from the earth…”  Psalm 104:16ff

Love as always,  Elaine (singing His praises in the rain)

Not All Me

Throughout my adult life I continued to remind my dentists that I didn’t want to spend fortunes saving these teeth because, “Someday I want the teeth of my dreams!”  Early this year I finally got them.  I love how they look and “work” but now I’ve got a gum inflammation that defies any cure.  It seems I’ve got a sensitivity to the new metal plate.  How exasperating! 

I am reminded that this mortal shell is wearing out.  Bumps and bruises, cuts and scrapes have left their mark upon my aging body.  Almost perfect at birth, it’s been a downhill slide ever since then!  In addition, fifteen surgeries have scarred my flesh like a road map to the grave!  Over the years a parade of surgeons have removed a number of organs or parts thereof.  How much longer can this go on?

 “But someone may ask, "How are the dead raised? With what kind of body will they come?"  How foolish! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies.  When you sow, you do not plant the body that will be, but just a seed, perhaps of wheat or of something else.  But God gives it a body as he has determined, and to each kind of seed he gives its own body.”      1 Cor. 15:35-38  

 “So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. I declare to you, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.”      1Co 15:42-50 

One of our older church ladies has just endured major abdominal surgery.  My heart goes out to her.  I’ve been under the knife so many times myself that I can well imagine how much pain she’s having.  It will be a long recovery for her.  But our hope is not centered on this long-suffering flesh…

“Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed—in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet.  For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.  For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality.  When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: ‘Death has been swallowed up in victory.’

Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?"         1Co 15:51-55

Love as always,  Elaine (shedding this perishable a piece at a time)