Been doing Indian rain dances all afternoon. Hasn’t rained at my house since my birthday, April 1. Rain is such a glorious fertilizer for newly planted gardens. My flowers will pop right up if we get a good soaking rain. Scripture reads rain is a symbol of God’s blessings, a gift of God’s faithfulness. We read in Deuteronomy 28:12, “The Lord will open the heavens, the storehouse of his bounty, to send rain on your land in season and to bless all the work of your hands.” The rain is a spiritual blessing causing the earth to bear fruit. In Ezekiel 34:26 the Lord proclaims, “I’ll send down plenty of rain in season—showers of blessing!” Alabama needs the rain. Zechariah 10:1 compels us to “pray to God for rain — it’s time for the spring rain — to God, the rainmaker, Spring thunderstorm maker, maker of grain and barley.”

As I drank my last cup of coffee, perched in the porch swing, counting all the cardinals, I watched Mother Nature gather the clouds and watercolor their bellies purple with raindrops. The Lord wiling, the clouds will pour their silver raindrops out on my garden tonight. Watching the parade of birds at the gloaming I saw a large handsome robin, standing erect, belly poked out like a southern legislator getting ready to deliver a filibuster. Made me remember Senator Howell Heflin and his visits to The Roanoke Leader newspaper office. He always walked to the back of the office to speak to me. I can remember how his handshakes felt, his large hands warm and confident, a firm grip of respect. And that voice…I always enjoyed talking with him.

Found two beautiful prayers today to add to my collection. The first is titled Native American Prayer — “Oh Great Spirit, whose voice I hear in the winds, and whose breath gives life to all the world — hear me. I come before you, one of your children. I need your strength and wisdom. Let me walk in the beauty and make my eyes ever behold the red and purple sunset.” I love the mention of the red and purple sunset. The second short prayer is a traditional Catholic prayer for rain. “Look on our dry hills and fields, dear God, and bless them with the living blessing of gentle rain. Then the land will rejoice, and the rivers will sing your praises, and the hearts of men will be made glad. Amen.” If we get rain showers tonight the gardens will sing their thanks to God.

“At every sunset, the sky is a different shade. No cloud is ever in the same place. Each day is a new masterpiece. A new wonder. A new memory,” Sanibel Khan. Those words are a beautiful way to describe a sunset and our lives, too. Every day is different from the day before and today is different from the day tomorrow. We draw our world in the colors of our experiences. We experience new wonders and we make new memories. Life has its sunsets with challenges and changes that cloud our horizon with dark shadows. We can give into the darkness or use our faith to pray and bring sunlight back into the darkness. Walking through the darkness, praying for light, molds our faith. We trust God to give us light or to hold our hand and walk with us through the dark times.

We discover our inner strength when we deal with life’s difficulties. The colors in the sunset symbolize our emotions and we can look to the sun as a golden glow of hope and acceptance. We need to learn to navigate life’s challenges with grace. We can inspire others with our sunsets of acceptance and show there is the promise of a brighter tomorrow once the storm has passed. Sunsets are beautiful endings to the day and the promises of a new day. We can let go of the past and start fresh, embracing new possibilities. Every day the sun rises and every day the sun sets. We can count on that just like we can count on God’s grace and love. God is ever faithful. Psalm 117:2 reads, “His merciful kindness is great toward us, and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever.”

“The sky has a way of speaking to the soul. It offers calm in the midst of chaos, hope in the midst of despair, and light in the darkness of life.” – Mia Kirshner