actually, I heard it start about an hour ago. Heard it thundering around 2:15AM... and yeah... I couldn't go back to sleep so got up about 3:15 or so and came in here and tried to sleep. May have a little bit, but don't feel like I did. But as I sat here about 5:30-ish, I think it was, I heard the big drops start falling. I waited a moment to see if they will continue, and then ran out side (yes, in my jammies) and pulled the cushions off the chairs. Hubby came out as I was finishing the front and asked about the back chairs - so to the back we went. He stood there watching me, at first, and I told him to start pulling the strings! We got them all taken inside before it started raining hard. But the rain that fell on me sure did feel good. It seemed to stop a bit ago, but I heard it is raining pretty good right now, and I hope that it continues for awhile and really soaks the ground. I have lost so many plants due to the heat.
My fingers and knuckles are still sore, but size wise are about back to normal. I did not pit the last of the cherries, but did get grapes frozen and the rest of the blueberries frozen... and I got all the corn shucked, blanched, and wrapped and in the freezer! Definitely do not need any more corn. Unless I give some of this away. :-) I worked on things until early afternoon then just quit.
Oh - and hubby didn't ask me out for breakfast... but he did ask if I was going to cook breakfast. And I did. Bacon and eggs and toast. DIdn't cook lunch for neither of us was really hungry, but did fix fried chicken (air fryer heat up from Fry's), salad wedge, zucchini slices, corn on the cob (of course), steamed broccoli, and yogurt with blueberries for dessert. Yeah, we were full, for sure. But I love to cook. :-) I don't usually fix all that, but needed to use up some of the veggies.
Today is Sunday and we will be going to church... although I do have a minor headache - probably from being awake since early this morning. Or it could be from the weather change. I do love the rain and if hubby suggested staying home today, I would....I think.... not because of the rain, but because I love to just sit and listen to the rain fall. It is so relaxing and soothing. Tonight they will have a worship service, but we won'tbe going. Sometimes the music is just too loud and having an entire night of worship.... yeah... probably won't go. In the mornings hubby doesn't even wear his hearing aids.... he can hear everything just fine - even Pastor Patrick! Yeah, they are loud. But he can sure preach a message! That's why we love him - he preaches the Bible.
John 11:14-15 (NKJV): "Then Jesus said to them plainly, "Lazarus is dead. And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, that you may believe. Nevertheless, let us go to him."
As I read that scripture this morning in my Bible, I am reminded that sometimes God puts us in a waiting pattern. Jesus had known for two days that Lazarus was sick. And the Jewish laws allowed only so many miles to walk in a day - like about two miles, I think it was. Yeah, they could walk two miles in one day and they couldn't walk any further. Could you even imagine? Anyway... I don't recall how far Bethany was from where Jesus was, but it wasn't far. But even when He was told Lazarus was sick, He just commented that Lazarus was going to be ok... that it was all to glorify God. It makes you wonder, doesn't it, how the disciples dealt with Jesus' lack of concern for His friend when He was told Lazarus was sick... and He didn't rush to heal him.
Not just in this circumstance, but think about this... in all circumstances, even in times of waiting (as Jesus and His disciples did before heading to Bethany), we should interpret circumstances by the love of Chirst..... rather than trying to interpret Christ's love by the circumstances.
Does that make sense? When someone is sick... and we are waiting for them to be healed or get well; or we prayed for a certain situation to happen ... and we are waiting for it to happen.... and neither of these things come to pass. At least not the way we want them to..... do we start blaming Jesus and say it is because He doesn't love us? Or do we believe that it is because He loves us, that He allowed things to happen as they did, that He worked in us as He worked in the situation?
Sometimes I feel that I am all prayed out.... what else can I pray..... I'm not getting answers.... at lesat the ones I want to hear and see. My heart still grieves... I am still troubled.... I grow weary at times... and yet.... I can say I have never doubted that Jesus loved me, that Jesus heard me. But I continue to beat on the door of heaven and ask... waiting... and waiting still... for answers that I have not seen come to pass.
And yet, I believe. I believe that in the asks I have, Jesus will bring them about, in His timing, not mine. And sometimes a hope, a wish, a dream... comes true without my beating on the doors of heaven. A comment is made that warms my heart and gives me hope. A hope that pushes the heaviness of my heart away and allows me to find joy in the moment.
It was an innocent comment. But it warmed my heart. I'm not going to share it; in time I am sure I will write about it and you can figure it out. But I found joy in the comment. How I long for joy to burst forth in my heart as it used to!
I'm not complaining about my situation, my life. Sometimes, though, life is hard; it is tough, and it buries the soul. But I have leraned over the years and have quoted it - and sung it - many times....
Nehemiah 8:10 (NKJV): "Then he said to them, "Go your way, eat the fat, drink the sweet, and send portions to those for whom nothing is prepared; for this day is holy to our Lord. Do not sorry, for the joy of the Lord is your strength."
...."the joy of the Lord is your strength."
When life beats down, as it sometimes does, that is the one line we can always remember... 'the joy of the Lord is MY strength'. I had a boss who didn't like me one time... and I would walk the hallways singing those words..."The joy of the Lord is my strength, the joy of the Lord is my strength..." And He gave me His strength to endure her words, her actions...
All things are in His timing, all things are wortht he waiting. Even when we don't want to wait... when we are in His waiting room, He makes all things perfect... all in His time.
Wait upon Him... He is working in you to bring forth the results you desire.
Blessings!
