Rainy Day

Pit. Pat. Pit.
First one. Now two. Then three.
The rain falls.
Calming all who hear its steady rhythm.
Showering the thirsty earth below.
Plants bathe in the downpour.
Droplets of water slide down windowpanes.
Rain gutters gurgle.
Puddles form on streets.

Pitter. Patter. Pitter.

Little eyes gaze outside and watch

as the world is transformed

into a shining, sparkling paradise.

Books are allowed a moment of rest.

Rain boots are yanked on.

Striped, colorful, polka dot umbrellas

are taken out of their cases.

Doors close softly.

Splish. Splash. Splish.
The rain continues to fall.
Now it falls on happy, upturned faces;
faces filled with glee and wonder.
Kissing bubbly children with its goodness.
Shouts fill the air.
Puddles are given companions.
Joy flows in abundance.

Drip. Drop. Drip.

The gentle flow of rain is now at an end.
The world has at last been replenished.
Leaves relinquish their burdens upon unsuspecting heads.
The muddy ground takes delight in each new footstep.
The sun soon comes out from its hiding,
and a brilliant rainbow fills the sky.

=)

Little Ones

Today after church we had my Uncle, Aunt, and their children over for a time of eating, talking, and burning off lots energy. The kids spent the majority of the time horsing around in the basement - playing hangman, twister, whacking each other with fake swords and the like. The second to youngest, Baruch (who just recently turned three), stayed close by me when he wasn’t off following his “cool guy cousins.”

You know those electronic picture frames? The ones were you just slide in a memory card and it slowly flips through them? Well, we have one of those. It just so happened that while Baruch and I were playing with little people on the family room floor, his eye happened to catch the “magic” changing picture machine. He jumped up and ran to have a look. Recognizing cousins, siblings, and other such relatives in the pictures, he turned to me in excitement.

“Granda Morr.”

“Yup! That’s Grandma.”

“Nafen. Joe. Pedr. Erc.”

“Mhmm! Who is that in the next one?”

“Abby.”

“How about her?”

“Rachel!!” *giggles*

“Who did Rachel marry, Baruch?”

*thinks for a minute*

“Jordan.”

My mom, having overheard the last part of our conversation joined in.

“Guess what, Baruch? You know who is coming to visit you soon?”

“Visit??” asked Baruch questioningly.

“Mhmm! Rachel is coming to visit you!”

“RACHEL!” exclaimed Baruch happily.

“Rachel? Coming? When?”

“Very soon! She’s be here in about a month and a half. She’s going to come all the way to see you.”

“Ooooooh!” replied Baruch, turning back to the picture frame. A few seconds later he asked another question, “Rachel is going to drive a van?”

“Actually….she’s going to be flying in a plane!”

“Plane? HOW?” he asked with a confused expression on his face.

I then proceeded to explain to him what a plane is, how people get into to it, and that it flew in the air. He didn’t quite get it. Eventually, I brought him over to the computer and showed him what an airplane looked like. He responded with another, “Oooooohhhh.” Which was followed shortly by, “How? How… how does it come down?”

“Umm…well…it has wheels that have brakes on them.” I responded rather lamely.

This was answered with an accepting. “Oh.”

After our profound conversation about how an airplane flew, I printed out a black and white picture for him to color. Armed with a container full of multicolored crayons, we set out to find the kitchen table and begin our assignment. Baruch climbed up onto my lap and excitedly began coloring. After our endeavor was completed, I wrote “December 24^th. Rachel is coming to visit.” on the back of the picture. He then proceeded to show it his mom, Aunt Kimmy, Uncle Dave, and whoever else happened to be near at hand. When they left to head for home, he still had the airplane picture tightly clutched in his hands.

Assurance

Have you ever said or done something and then instantly regretted it? I sure have. For me, it’s generally accompanied with a desire to reverse the last thirty seconds and whack myself quite soundly. Badly done, Abby. Badly done. These regretted utterances generally occur when I haven’t thought about my words or actions. I’ve just blurted something out. I haven’t checked to see if it’s unkind, or selfish, or hurtful, or just simply unneeded. We so often want to give our own input on the topic of a conversation, so we go right ahead and barge right in. Or we see ourselves as worthy of praise, so we seek to elevate ourselves in the eyes of others. Or we simply don’t take the time to be considerate, and we end up hurting others in the process. It’s so easy to do. The hard part is keeping our mouths tightly shut. The hard part is letting others take the praise.

It’s easy to be discouraged when you’ve just said or done something stupid. Especially when it happens a lot. You feel like it’s hopeless to even try to improve. Why even bother? You’d just keep making the same mistakes. The problem with these feelings is that they are sinful. They are filled with the same selfishness that made us utter the previously abhorred statement. These thoughts are the devil’s attempts to discourage and win us over.

Thankfully, by God’s everlasting grace we are not left wallowing in our own self-pity. Through the sacrificial death and resurrection of His son, Satan has already been defeated. We have been freed from our bondage. We have been given hope. There is no more need to despair.

This doesn’t mean that we will never experience trials or temptations again, for the battle within our sinful flesh will continue into the last day. But, it does mean that the ultimate victory has already been achieved. In Christ, we have the assurance of everlasting life, and the promise of being made new. By His cleansing blood and the continual working of the Holy Spirit, our selfishness and pride eventually give way to His glory and majesty. The desire to follow His commands, and serve Him in all things becomes the most important thing in our thoughts and actions. And soon, the hurtful, selfish words and actions become less frequent. Our earthly passions continue to grow smaller and smaller, as we become more and more like our heavenly Father.

Praise the Lord for His infinite love. It is shown in the command He gives to our parents to encourage and train us in the way we should go. It is also shown in the friends that He gives who are willing to give their honest opinions when they believe we are in the wrong. Most importantly, it is shown through the sacrificial death, burial, and resurrection of His Son. Because of Christ's sacrifice, we can pick ourselves back up again. We are given the assurance that with each passing day, despite our mistakes, we are victorious. Because of Christ the day is ours.