Had a busy morning, not much time to ponder till after lunch. I sat in the swing early afternoon and watched the birds and critters in my yard. The brown tailed squirrel has been chasing the doves all afternoon from the bottoms of the bird feeders. Either Fatty the squirrel has become road kill or he’s just not around anymore. He would not let that brown tailed squirrel come in my yard. Fatty would chase him all the way across the street and run him up the big magnolia’s trunk. That little squirrel has bullied every bird that comes his way. Guess Fatty passed the buck to the little brown tail squirrel and he’s the new bully in the neighborhood. I’m going to name him Brownie.

The day was cloudy, dripping drops of rain off and on. Father Sky was generous with his cloud drawings and managed to block out the sun all day in my neighborhood. I sat out in the porch swing while a soft rain fell and it was so relaxing to hear the drops patter on the porch tile, singing in drips off the leaves of the trees. The yard symphony of birds songs and rain drops was so pretty.

I slept with a window open last night listening to the rain on the bamboo forest, lulled to sleep by it’s beautiful sounds. Then I was awakened this morning by a plethora of loud bird songs proclaiming the day’s awakening. I like cloudy days with rain refreshing the world.

Mother Nature directed her sunset pageant behind the cloud curtains but I know that did not diminish the glorious rendering of her sun setting. She paints gloriously for her Lord, not concerned if we can’t get a glimpse of her work. I imagine a colorful pageant of mauve, pink, orange, and purple watercolor brush strokes coloring the horizon, bursting into bright flames of color when the sun walked down the stage tonight. The foggy twilight highlights the sun’s gown of silky silver and gives an air of mystery to Father Sky dressed in his grey formal coat and tails, his black top hat rakishly perched on his head. Father Sky tips his hat to kiss the sun goodnight as she turns out the day’s light and goes to wake the waxing crescent moon and twinkling stars to awaken the night and sleep the day.

I love rainy days. Rain is such an important part of our existence. Water is necessary for life and without it we would perish. Job 5:10 reads, “He provides rain for the earth; he sends water on the countryside.” I think our lives have seasons just like the earth has seasons. In some seasons we experience joy, other seasons bring heartache. Some seasons full of rain, others full of drought. God’s rain can cleanse us of sin and purify our souls in our seasons of life. Deuteronomy 32:2 reads, “Let my teaching fall like rain and my words descend like dew, like showers on new grass, like abundant rain on tender plants.”

The rain has a cleansing effect upon the earth. I like to think of the rain as tears from Mother Nature, happy tears watering her earth in the bloom of springtime and angry tears storming with cold winds of her winter. Doesn’t matter what kind of storms we face in life, God is always standing with us to calm the winds and protect us from the rain. God blesses us with his words like the rain blesses the land.

God promised he would not flood the land again and sends the colorful rainbow arch of Mother Nature’s watercolors to remind us of his love and compassion, the rainbow symbolizing hope and new beginnings. I think of God’s rain as his love and grace washing over us through our faith. Rain is a symbol of God’s blessing and through his love God gives us everything we need to flourish and grow.

“How much of life we miss by waiting to see the rainbow before thanking God for the rain.” —Dieter F. Uchtdorf