Rain

Hebrews 12:3-13:25 & Hosea 1:1-2:23

“I will be faithful to you and make you Mine, and you will finally know Me as the LORD. In that day, I will answer,” says the LORD, “I will answer the sky as it pleads for clouds. And the sky will answer the earth with rain. Then the earth will answer thirsty cries of the grain, the grapevine and the olive trees. And they in turn will answer, ‘Jezreel’ – God plants!” At that time I will plant a crop of Israelites and raise them for myself I will show love to those I called ‘Not loved’. And to those I called, ‘Not My people.’ I will say, ‘Now you are my people.’ And they will reply, ‘You are our God!'” Hosea 2:20-23

Lord, thank You for the glorious symphony that is rain dancing on the leaves, drumming on the deck and clapping on the tin. Thank You for the authoritative peals of majestic thunder as You pronounce Your name above all names.

Jehovah of Might.

Thank You for the flash of lightning that punctuates the sky with Your brilliance, the splash of a single drop’s impact as it permeates the surface of a gathering puddle. Thank You for the sploosh of a car’s tires ripping across the glistening pavement and the drone of the flow of life cascading from the downspout. Lord, I love how You made the raindrops pop when they hit the hard-packed earth. Flowered faces bow as their petals fill with this nectar of life. The glittering green grass bounces under the sudden weight and release of the drops from their hands causing them to wave their palms in praise of You. There are circles of dry earth under tables and chairs sitting silent and unused. The thunder rolls from cloud to cloud singing the song of the rain – He is LORD!

The saturated fall air thrills as it trickles up the spine and down the arms in a chill that exits through bumps on skin making hair stand on end to Your presence. Lord, thank You for the excuse to gleefully run through the rain to Your waiting embrace. Oh Your waiting embrace! How it thrills and spills over my heart. I love how You hold my heart when You hold my hand, and how You hold my hand when You hold my heart. Great is Your love and Your patience! Great is Your wisdom and solace. You are great!

Lord, thank You for ink that flows from pen-tips like rivulets of Your love. May it never cease its torrent of words, YOUR words, through my soul and my hands. Thank You for loving me too much to allow me to stay who I wasn’t. Thank You for teaching me to love others enough to say, ‘No.’ And to love myself enough to spend the time to learn at Your knee that I’m worth receiving a ‘no’ from; that I’m worth standing up for. My life, my writing, my calling, my time with You – they’re worth celebrating and protecting and sharing.

Lord, thank You for the way that You love me. Oh! How You love me! Thank You for the symphony of a thunderstorm as an accompaniment to My praise to my God, THE GOD ALMIGHTY. My creator, my Father, my brother, my husband, my lover, my confidante, my friend, my healer, my protector, my provider, my song, my strength, my hope, my promise, my seal, my teacher, my lesson, my inspiration, my leader, my help, my lion and my lamb. You are my rock and my pillow, my rest and my sword, my armor and my robe, my comfort and my conviction, my hurt and my healing. You are my GOD!

You are my alpha and omega, my beginning and my end. You are my refuge and my fortress, you are my home. You are my light and direction in dark places. You are my breath and my life. You are my blood and my design. You are my savior and my king, my God you are my everything! You are my definition, you are my source, you are my lifter – You are my course. You are my garden, You are my joy. You are my Beloved – Mary’s baby boy. You are my innocence and my righteousness. You are my justification and my cleansing. You are my passion and my delight. You are my God in the deepest of nights.

You are God, strong and sensitive; tall, light and handsome. You are God and I am not and I thank You for that! I am thankful that because You are God, I don’t have to be. I Thank You that because You are my provider and protector I don’t have to be afraid. Lord, help me to not be afraid! Please! Lord, lead us in the way that we should go and help us to fearlessly follow You all the days of our lives, in Jesus’ name!

Lord, thank You for the decadence of a moment truly savored and frozen in time. Thank You for the raindrops tracing lines through the sky and misting the view. Thank You for a warm cats purr in the lap and the remnants of a salty chocolate treat in teeth to lick for time to come. Thank You for the fading thunder as it warns of a storm’s departure. Thank You for the warmth and familiarity of a favored sweatshirt and the trickle of the drops as they slow their downward dance – always earth bound, never up. Thank You for the brilliance of sun as it rounds the horizon in the ever-growing stillness as the symphony ceases – Rain.