Drought, Rain and Other Solutions

My husband likes his privacy, whereas I believe that my whole life should be broadcast, right on down to the warts. That may be why he let the bushes on our front porch grow into a veritable forest. I was starting to have fears that we'd be like this house I drive by often, where the house is completely hidden by a tangle of greenery resembling the wicked thicket in Sleeping Beauty. But finally, he consented and wacked it down to normalcy one afternoon. And of course, then came the drought. Our poor bushes! And my newly-planted Carolina Jasmine plants! We were watering them, but things were looking bleak. Everybody was praying for rain. It has been hotter and more humid than Hades this summer. The sky would clabber up and look like rain, but then blow over. This happened over and over. Finally, one fine afternoon, the sky let loose and it poured. I happened to be in the car with Ken and we had to almost stop the vehicle (which means that it is really bad. I've mentioned before that the man doesn't drive, he qualifies). Then the drought began to lift and the grass went insane. The bleak bushes started putting out some leaves. My Jasmine curled right up those 116-year-old columns like it's supposed to and I should have more romance added to my porch by next year. Hopefully we can keep the storybook thicket at bay.

I couldn't help but think about gratefulness and God's gifts. A lot of people think that we're supposed to be praying about living in the Promised Land, getting to a higher plane, experiencing the Deeper Life and all that. And some of that is good, it's positive thinking. But we don't live on a perfect planet and this life always has its stinky parts. Struggle is part and parcel of the plan. If there was no struggle, why would we need redeeming? Would we appreciate the good things if we never had to work for anything or experience the darkness? 

We prayed for the rain, but didn't expect it to storm. 

I heard a wise man giving a sermon one time. He talked about how good and bad run along parallel tracks and tend to arrive at the same time. Life is a mixed bag. A friend of his told him about how his son-in-law had cheated on his daughter, leaving her and two beautiful children. He asked him, "If you were God, what would you change?" His friend replied that he would go back in time and make sure that his daughter never met this man and married him. Then the preacher asked him if he would also be willing to part with those two precious grandchildren, because they wouldn't be here without that particular Daddy. He smiled and understood. Sometimes, and often, the bad comes along with the good. I believe that living in peace means finding that pearl in the middle of the nasty, stubborn oyster. When I get down or depressed, if I will stop and spread out my hands on the table and begin giving thanks to God for the good (and yes, even the bad) things, the fog lifts and I can find joy in the mud. The key is in actually doing it.