Where was all this rain a month ago?

First off, we're going to try this one more time! Third time's a charm, right? Get the ball rolling and hopefully keep it going! Thanks for taking the time to read this. Welcome back or welcome for the first time. I'm a bit sad that it's been almost a year since my last post, with hope I'll get back into the habit of keeping the site going and God will continue to use me- to HIM BE THE GLORY!! Praise be Jesus! (Now and forever!)

Now on to tackling the rainy days question.... A month ago it seemed like we'd all nearly forgotten what rain looked, felt, and even smelt like. The earth was dry as the dessert and hard as a rock. Crops weren't flourishing and the grass was being scorched by the sun. Yet, the Lord sent no rain... until now. Why? Because for whatever His purpose is, now is the best time to send the rain. So it is with our souls. At times we must be put to the test and sent into the dessert where we will not be comfortable and placed under intense schorching in order to be brought to a certain point- learning a new lesson, a more open heart, a new point of view on life- where ever He desires us to be before we can be washed in cooling waters again. Sometimes there is a dessert between where we are now and where He needs us to go. Like anything with crops we know that there are good times and bad times. Planting crops at the end of July is bad timing- they'll never mature before they freeze. Trying to harvest in June is bad timing- nothing is ready yet. We think that we have perfected time schedules for when things are ready, but we are only human and thus probably not perfect. God, however, is perfect and outside of time; shouldn't we trust Him with His timing to give us drink or comfort or tests at the right time to make us ready and guide us towards maturity? 

Yesterday we heard in the first reading that God sent Elijah into the dessert where he was thirsty and starving, but definitely not abandoned. In his intense need and suffering God sent him aid when he needed it most so that he could continue onto his destination. The Lord nourished his body with food and drink so that he would not expire along the journey. So again it is with our souls. When our spirits can no longer carry themselves God, through His numerous graces, sends us the fruits of the spirit to nourish us so that "the journey will not be too long for you." Fr. Gary was sure to point out in his homily the true bread that gives us nourishment for our journeys here on earth- the Eucharist. Let us always be joyful that the Lord sends us this life giving bread everyday. Even when our spirits are in the dessert, we are still offered this eternally living bread to nourish us, and "true drink" so that our thirst will be quenched. We need only to accept it. Christ, the Bridegroom, makes the first move by offering us these graces, then as any lover responds to her husband, shouldn't we the Church, the Bride of Christ, readily and excitedly respond to our Lord? Could it be that when we are in the dessert yearning for nourishment and guidance that we learn the value of His graces and learn to trust His timing?