More Rain

This past winter, the crocuses came up in February. Our garlic never really died. The kale in the side garden was green, and not because it froze. It was warm. We got the 80s in March. Then came April. Snowpril, as they call it. Then came May, a month of very little rain. Then came June, a month of very little rain. Now it's July 10. We have not had any rain since we moved here to Michigan almost a month ago.
The grass is dead where the sprinklers have not hit. Many trees are dropping their brown leaves. An entire row of trees near the preforming arts center is sporting a bright red crown. We shouldn't be experiencing September vistas with mid-August heat and Sahara levels of precipitation. This isn't supposed to be...
The grass outside the library here at Andrews is beautiful. It's green and lush. It's where the sprinklers are aimed. But as you get further from the showcase area of campus, it gets drier and drier. The grass on my way home crunches into dust under my feet.
A distant acquaintance posted this. I'd like to add a thought:
Every heavenly raindrop is a seed. A seed of love. A seed that somehow grows more rain clouds and sends the rain into another life. And as long as you share your rain clouds, you never lack any of your own...

Amazing things happen in a desert after it rains.

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God knows we need rain. All we have to do is ask.

Rain

The ground is dry...

The grass is dying...

We need rain...

We need rain.

Ask ye of the Lord rain in the time of the latter rain; so the Lord shall make bright clouds, and give them showers of rain, to every one grass in the field.

Zechariah 10:1

Homesick

I'm currently suffering an acute case of homesickness.
 I miss all my friends back east.
 I miss the cool breezes of New Hampshire, the hill where my church is.
The river across the highway...so many memories there.
 And how is Maggie doing?
My house.
My home.
What is Marcia doing this week?
I miss knowing her cheery presence is across the street, most likely scheming up some good deed.
I miss my life in New England.
I don't understand why I'm here in Michigan.
But God wants me here.
 Here where I know all of three families, and one is moving soon.
 Here where I have no clue about anything about my neighbors (except the fact that their children play outside my window 'til 10:00pm).
 Here where I don't feel at home.
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I guess this is good training for my year abroad.
 Trusting God.
Even when I don't understand.
Even when I'm homesick.

I've Been Shot!

I got most of my overseas shots this week. Luckily, I already got my tetanus booster, and I'm still too young for a polio booster. So for now I'm set until next month when I get my second Hep-B. I also have to take a live Typhoid vaccine pill, which is a little unnerving. So, shots in the past, it's back to living grammar! I'm loving it!

Too Busy?

We've been busy lately. 

Too busy.

Busy with school...

Work...

Music...

Friends...

Church responsibilities...

Even ministry.

I'm ashamed to say it, we've almost been too busy for each other. So many things demanding our attention that seem so small.

Just a few minutes more studying...

One more short job...

Just to the end of this piece...

How often do we really get to go phone shopping, anyway...

We were voted into these positions, we can't let the church down by not fulfilling them...

It's already April and we haven't invited the speakers or finalized the schedule for NEYR- it must be done today...

This past Sabbath really brought this fact home to me, and today made it very real. Sabbath was the first time we took a walk, just the four of us, in months. It used to be a weekly event. On sunny Sabbaths we walked and on rainy Sabbaths we read an entire book in one afternoon. But we've been so busy with hurried "Can-we-get-together-for-a-few-minutes-after-Sabbath-School" meetings, that by the time we get home, we're starved, Daddy needs a nap, and by the time he wakes up, it's dark (not that he takes long naps, it just gets dark very early here).

But this week, we got home early enough to drive to the end of the road and just walk, enjoying each others company. The thought came to me that it's very important to put all the "busy work" of life aside in order to spend meaningful time with your family. You don't know how long you will be blessed with their company.

Which is the reason I'm blogging at 9:30 pm. I'm usually asleep by now, but I'm just bursting with words to get out. Why? Because today I haven't talked to Daniel. Usually, when we're both home, it's a running commentary about everything from "Why did God make chlorophyll green?" to "Do you think Mrs. Romney really has two Cadillacs?" But today it's different. Today marks the first time Daniel and I have been seperated for 24 hours, and to be perfectly honest, it's terrible. I miss him. 

He'll be back tomorrow morning, and it won't be soon enough, but I learned a lesson:

Never take your family for granted. They mean more than any possible distraction.

Enthusiasm

Growing up in New England means growing up surrounded with history. The town where I grew up was home to Atlantic Union College (the oldest Adventist school operating in the original buildings), the Village Church (the oldest church build by Adventists for Adventists), the Rowlandson Garrison, and happened to be the oldest town in the county. Lexington and Concord (where the Revolutionary War began) was about 30 minutes from my house. Where I live now, the first Sabbath keeping Adventist church is in my church's district.

The wealth of the heritage in my area is quite impressive. But I have ceased to be impressed. It is all commonplace. I see it all the time.

Some friends came out east last spring and we went on a history tour. AUC, the Village Church, Lexington, Concord and the Washington Church were all on the list of "to-sees". Watching their reactions to these historic places was eye opening. They saw everything with wide-open eyes, drinking in the places and the stories of the people who made them famous. The youngest daughter was so enthralled that she was imagining the "swarthy Indian who was stealthily sneaking through these very woods!"

Their enthusiasm was contagious. I found myself taking a second look at the things in my figurative backyard, and realizing that they are indeed something to take note of.

Today, on my way home from a conference, I was looking through some of the pictures of the tour last spring. A new thought struck me:

Many of us have grown up with the Adventist message. We've read the Bible front to back many times and have portions of it memorized. We are in great danger of loosing our enthusiasm for God and His ways. We must always be taking a second look, remembering Him and His leading. We have nothing to fear for the future, even, or maybe especially, falling into that sense of familiarity that leads to contempt, except we forget how God has lead in the past.

As Bound With Them

The injunctions in the Bible stand for eternity, even Hebrews 13:3.

Remember them that are in bonds, as bound with them; and them which suffer adversity, as being yourselves also in the body.

Slavery did not die out in the 1800s. As I write, it is estimated there are over 10,000 slaves in America alone.

Let's not forget those that are in bonds. If ever they needed our prayers, it is now.

I love to cook. I also love to share recipes. Check out my cooking blog at warnerchef.blogspot.com

NEYR 2012 Audio

The NEYR sermon audio is up! Goto http://neyouthretreat.info/sermonaudio2012.aspx to download!