22/02/13

Splish, splash, squelch. My boots trudge through the saturated ground. My shoulders are hunched to try and protect my face from the driving rain but water still drips off my nose constantly and persistently. I'm nearly back to the protection of the veranda and a relatively dry house where I can exchange my wet cloths for warm dry ones. Suddenly I remember that I promised my budgies that I would bring them something green to eat and I'd forgotten. So I turn my heavy steps away from the house back toward the garden. My brown skirt swirls around my calves with a peculiar wet motion and my jacket weighs heavily on my shoulders, heavy with absorbed rain. Inside the garden gate I reach down and pluck a hand-full of baby farmers friends from their muddy bed and start back to the house.
It's been raining for days. We've given up checking the rain gauge. Who can tell when it was last checked or how long it has been overflowing for. The ground is blanketed with puddles that have merged together into one sheet of water. The usually dry gullies are full of rough, tumbling, brown water. The dams overflow. The rivers rush by in a turmoil of flood.
It reminded me of this song by Nichole Nordeman,

Send some rain, would You send some rain?
'Cause the earth is dry and needs to drink again
And the sun is high and we are sinking in the shade
Would You send a cloud, thunder long and loud?
Let the sky grow black and send some mercy down
Surely You can see that we are thirsty and afraid

But maybe not, not today
Maybe You'll provide in other ways
And if that's the case
We'll give thanks to You with gratitude
For lessons learned in how to thirst for You
How to bless the very sun that warms our face
If You never send us rain

Only we are asking God to send us sun. I'm so glad that we can be thankful in the sun and in the rain and as the song that I wrote yesterday assures us:

But the sun will shine again,

A rainbow through the rain.

Let it warm your face.

Rely upon His grace,

For there’s stars up there.

And though you can’t see their light,

They are shining clear and bright.

Trust His might to pull you through.

Yes, we can trust God to only give us as much rain as is in His plan for us. 

"Count your many blessings name them one by one, And it will surprise you what the Lord has done."