When it rains, it pours

When it rains, it pours! The last couple of weeks I have been smack dab in the middle of a downpour of blessings.

I have been told that the two weeks of rain earlier this year brought portions of Wyoming more precipitation than we normally get in an entire year. It’s been wonderful. The desert is a lovely shade of green, forest fires are at bay, and the crops look promising. The small lakes have water and the rivers and streams are flowing.

It’s a great head start on the season. Though nature has made provisions to make it last through mountain run-off, much of the early moisture will be long gone by the end of summer. It is evaporated, absorbed, and used. The head start, however, provides strength for the growing season and relieves effects of arid weather making future precipitation more beneficial.

I belong to a very small church in an area of Wyoming where Christianity is not necessarily in the majority. For the third year in a row we have been the destination of an amazing team of missionaries from Arizona. We now fondly refer to their time here as Arizona Week. This year Arizona Week was actually two weeks of sweat, friendship, and awesome accomplishment. We had the opportunity to work along side these folks as they rewired electricity, plumbed, cleaned, prayed, laughed, built, painted, and coached.

One of their primary goals was to help us hold a sports camp for children. Along with the teaching of soccer and basketball skills the “coaches” taught biblical truths to our young sports enthusiasts. It was a great (and exhausting) experience powered by God.

The “Arizona Team” is an awesome example of selfless love and servitude. Their time here affects my spirit much the same way that the uncharacteristic rains this year affected the Wyoming desert. Working along side of them gives me strength and encouragement for the journey and relieves the effects of spiritual dryness. I see in them the potential each of us has in being children of God.

Like a Thanksgiving feast, I take in as much as I can. The nourishment is needed for growth and I thank God for them. Also like Thanksgiving dinner and the ample rain showers I really can’t get enough to last all year. Now that I have once again been given a burst of blessings I need to continue onward and upward toward the goal. I want to be prepared to absorb the moisture when and where it is offered and to pass it on at every opportunity.

Staying in Shape

We began each day of sports camp with stretching and warm-up exercises. Sounds easy enough. I am quite active in my daily routine at work and in the garden. I live a relatively healthy lifestyle. However, it was here, at the very beginning that I realized how out of shape I had become. At first, I thought I was keeping up pretty nicely. I could meet all of the necessary requirements for warming-up. . . I thought. It was then that I discovered that I had aced the introductions to the exercises. I was not really prepared for the, “O.K., now let’s do ten of those” portion of the program.

I can’t help but make the comparison to my Christian walk. It doesn’t usually seem too tough. I am able to do all of the “necessary” things. Then I wondered. Am I prepared for what God has planned for me? Am I ready for the real application where the rubber hits the pavement? Or am I terribly out of shape despite my daily activities?