Gully Washers!!!

Thank you Sandy for using the term "gully washer" in your gratitude list last night! I hadn't heard that expression for 'a coon's age'! Trips down memory lane are great journeys that recall good times and often are brief escapes from present realities. Last evening as I left the church and after a torrential downpour, I noticed the little neighbor girl out on the sidewalk. Ordinarily, I would have trudged to the truck and drove home from exhaustion of the day. This little girl was running up and down the sidewalk seeking out every water puddle she could find all the while singing a song at the top of her lungs...and I smiled and traveled back to 1968.

I grew up in a three story house that had no rain gutters on its very steep roof. The hip roof would produce a water fall comparable to Niagra Falls (an exaggeration) and it was common practice to run outside during those torrential downpours and stand under the onslaught of water rolling off the roof. Glorious! I don't remember if I ever sang in those rainstorms. but I'm sure I squealed with delight in the impromptu shower. It was not uncommon to have a bar of ivory soap in hand on these occasions.

Refreshing rainshowers, trips down memory lane, and unleashing our inner child are good for the soul. It brings perspective to present realities especially harsh ones. When was the last time you saw an image that resonated deep in your soul and you wandered back through time to a place of happiness? It is God's gift to us. He reminds us of His abiding presence. He is the past, present, and future.

The future is filled with God and His yet to be experienced times of joy. Don't be so crushed and perplexed by your present reality that you miss God's gifts. Stay alert! Dance in the rain! Celebrate!

Ps 30:11 You turned my wailing into dancing; you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy,

that my heart may sing to you and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give you thanks forever.

(My homestead in rural Osceola Mills) [Raingutters installed]