Drip, drip, drip...

 

The first morning after we returned from our road trip, I sat outside my back door listening to the remnants of last night's rain drip from the eaves.  May in central Arkansas has been more cool and rainy than I ever remember.  Bible in one hand, cup of coffee in the other, I watched a rabbit hop across the yard and listened to robins chirp.  Drip, drip, drip...the rain continued dripping from the trees as God's Word dripped into my heart.  I thought about the children of Israel and what God told them when they were preparing to go into the promised land:

 

 

"When the Lord Your God brings you into the land he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to give you - a land with large, flourishing cities you did not build, houses filled with all kinds of good things you did not provide, wells you did not dig, and vineyards and olive groves you did not plant - then when you eat are satisfied, be careful that you do not forget the Lord, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery."  Deuteronomy 6:10-12

 

I was refilling my heart in a beautiful backyard that my hands did not plant and living in a house that our sweet renters had worked hard to repair.



 

We thought this potted gardenia plant had died.  It was brown and crispy and lifeless.  But while we were on the road visiting our friend Mike and his precious family, we got tons of rain and this little gardenia decided to sprout tiny new green leaves.  I now call this plant Lazarus.  It's a good reminder to me.  I've been feeling pretty crispy and lifeless during the last several months of transition.  I need to fill up, and sitting in the back yard early every morning reading God's Word while the sun comes up is one of the ways I plan to refill.  Our family will be putting some routine back into our lives very soon, preparing avenues for emotional, spiritual, mental, and physical refueling.

 

 

The same morning, my grandmother came over for a birthday brunch.  Our birthdays are only a few days apart, and we were out of state on her special day.  So, she joined me for a "May Birthday Girl" celebration.



After breakfast (so thankful we made several quiches and stuck them in the freezer before we left), we sat and shared storied of God's faithfulness over the years.  Some of the stories were about my grandfather, some were about God's provision of finances, some were about seeing His hand work in circumstances when we turned around and looked back.   Drip, drip, drip...



I found my soul continuing to fill up.