April Showers...or Not

Okay - it's April 18th and I have one question. Where are the April showers?! Apparently, the individual who coined that phrase did not live in our neck of the woods. I know that God's timing is perfect, but I tend to get a little impatient.

Yesterday afternoon we were elated to see this:


And this:

Wish I could bottle the smell of rain:

Yes, I was so excited that I went out and took a picture of raindrops on the sidewalk. That's what happens when you are desperate for moisture. Rain becomes photo-worthy. In our industry, rain is a necessity and when it rains, it is a gift and we are thankful for every drop. We would have to have a lot of rain before you would hear anyone grumbling about it. It's been a long time since we've experienced a good rain.

You might be asking, "Wait a minute. Don't they live in the desert?"

Yes, we do, but at times the desert sees it's fair share of rain. Last year we were blessed with an abundance of rain and it didn't take us long to become accustomed to it.

Even though we experienced extended periods of drought in the mountains of West Texas, we also had our share of wet weather:

The creek would rise and we might be cut off from town for 4 or 5 days. When that happened, we celebrated.

Fixing water gaps was something to get excited about. And when the water receded, we drove the tractor down to the creek and spent the day moving the tons of rock that had washed into the crossing. There are good neighbors, even though they live an hour away, at the end of dirt roads:

As well as people who sometimes take leave of their senses:

When DS was 6 and had just started kindergarten, we had one of those rains. I panicked then because we were not all on the same side of that creek, turned river. DH saddled up a couple of horses, loaded them in the trailer, and drove to the water's edge. I was not invited because according to DH, he did not need a hysterical female added to the mix. Humph.

Friends brought DS to the other side and waited for DH to swim the horses across and pick up DS who thought it was all very cool.

Suffice it to say, everyone made it back home safely and it is now one of those "remember when" stories that is often repeated.

Yesterday I almost ran out and started spreading grass seed in the yard. Good thing I didn't get too carried away.

I made a comment to DH about the power of prayer and about 4 minutes later the rain stopped. As he went out he stated, "Looks like you might need to get back on your knees". Humph.

Actually, he's right. We should always be on our knees for that is when we are closest to God. I tend to wander away from that at times, but I'm getting better. He knows what our needs are much better than we do. I am learning to lean on Him for all my needs and let Him be my rock.