The Rain Continues...

The rain continues here in this part of Texas, as I'm sure it does in most of your areas as well. I have never seen so much rain in my life. It is raining here pretty much every day and has been for about a month. There are sporadic times of sun, but mostly rain.

I was driving home the other day and the sun was shining. All of sudden as I got closer to home everything turned dark and down came another torrential downpour. It lasted about 5 minutes and then stopped, but then more rain came later that day. The 4th here was great though. A few showers in the morning and then what turned out to be a gorgeous day outside with a great breeze. Probably one of the coolest 4th of July's I've ever experienced. It was spent with dear friends which just made it that much better!

As we are in mid summer, I find myself so busy. I usually think summer is when things slow down. But this summer has been busier than most. The other hard thing about summer is we are out of our usual routines. For me, that makes it harder to keep my focus, stay up with my studying, etc. I find myself falling into old patterns that I'm trying to correct.

As I was getting out of my car the other day in yet another rainstorm, I began thinking about how much rain we've had. It is so unusual. And then I started thinking about how I've been getting out of good habits and thinking of the world and all the worldly things that go on. As I watched and thought about the rain, a thought struck me. It's almost like God is trying to clean up the world some with all of the rain. I know that's not really why the rain is here, but it did start me to thinking.

It rains and rains and just when you think it's not going to rain anymore, then it starts again. Almost like God saying, ok... things are looking better now, wait... no, there they go again. We need more washing out of the old habits.

It really made me think about my life and making sure my good habits stay good and don't get lost in my busyness. It was like God was telling me, I've gotten her cleaned up to start fresh, again, oh... maybe not... there she goes again.

Although I know that Jesus' blood continually cleanses us, I don't want to feel like I'm in a state of needing to be washed continually because my focus doesn't stay where it needs to be. And I'm not talking about huge things... I'm talking about just letting every day life get in the way and letting myself resort to old habits of putting reading the word at the end of the day if I'm not too tired, rather than starting the day with it; being grouchy at someone who cuts me off in traffic rather than thinking, wow... they could really be having a bad day today; etc.

I love the fact that God's grace and Jesus' blood continually wash over me and keep pure in His eyes. But I don't want to make him feel like, Ok... start the showers, here she goes again. I thank God for the rain this Earth so desperately needed, but I'm praying for spiritual blue skies for the rest of the summer!

(On a side note, Jeremy left this morning for a mission trip to Honduras with the Highland Oaks youth. Please keep him and his group in your prayers.)

In a large house there are articles not only of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay; some are for noble purposes and some for ignoble. If a man cleanses himself from the latter, he will be an instrument for noble purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work. 2 Timothy 2:20-22