A hopeful song through this desperately dry summer has been the hymn "Be Still, My Soul." My favorite line says, "Be still, my soul, the wind and waves still know His voice who ruled them while He dwelt below." I changed the word "waves" to "rain" and it works perfectly. The wind and rain still know His voice; they still obey Him. It will rain when God says it will rain. Believe me there have been a LOT of begging God to tell it to rain this year!
Wednesday evening I had laundry hanging out on the line. The way I see it, if it's going to be this hot, I can at least put the sunshine to work. There were storm-looking clouds forming in the distance, but the storms have gone around us or fizzled out so many times this year that I wasn't worried about them. My husband told me to leave the laundry out there and maybe it would finally rain! I couldn't find any stats on how much rain we've had this year, but it's been close to a year now since the last time the ground had the kind of moisture it needs. I didn't want to forget and leave the laundry out until after dark because that part of our yard gets, well, dark. So I took them down. Then my husband and I (along with an ever present dog) went out to watch the "storm." As the dark clouds approached, we became hopeful that it might actually rain on us this time! The clouds swirled and grew larger and I wished I had brought the camera outside because they were quite unique. It had been almost eerily calm, but as the front of the storm hit, the wind picked up. To a howl. Along with the wind, came dust. Enough dust that it became quite dark and the sky turned orange. We realized that what we had assumed was a rain shaft, was just dust. So I went in to get the camera.
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| No, this is not a tornado, but it looked weird! |
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| Still just dust! |
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| That is dust you see close to the ground, not rain. |
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| I had to wipe off the camera lens every time I took a picture or it would be covered in dust. I forgot to wipe it before this picture. |
My contacts were dry and my eyes and teeth felt gritty. But, behind the wind and the dust, came more wind (I mean, really, this IS Kansas) and rain! Huge, beautiful and cold raindrops that stung my face when they hit!
I have a video to prove how windy it really was, but I can't figure out how to get it to upload. I'm still new at this blogging thing! I think the local TV station said it was around 60 mph.
After a while, the rain stopped. Grateful for what we had, we went inside. Sometime later, my husband let the dog out to go, and it was raining again! This time it was a gentle rain with very little wind but lots of lightening. We heard a "pop" as lightening struck something close by, and expected the loud crash of thunder that usually follows something like that, but it never happened. The lights were still on in the house, but the strobe light that indicates that the irrigation system behind our house is running was no longer flashing. Thursday afternoon, my husband told me that pop of lightening we heard, had ruined the control panel for that irrigation system, as well as the pump for the system's well. So, that irrigation system is off for at least a few days (maybe weeks) until the new pump can get here. At this time of the year, it's pretty important that the irrigation keeps running 24/7, so it looks like we're back to praying for rain again! We have to trust God to provide water for that field now, since He took out the irrigation system.
As of right now, it's 3 p.m. and only 92 degrees! This is what August is SUPPOSED to feel like, but after the extreme heat of the past several weeks, it feels almost cool. We had 1.25 inches of rain Wednesday night. That beautiful rain brought not only much needed moisture, but relief from the heat. Even if only for a few days. "Be still, my soul, the wind and rain still know His voice who ruled them while he dwelt below." He sends the rain (and the wind and lightening!) in His time, no amount of leaving the laundry on the line or vehicle washing will make it come any sooner. I need to remember that I live on God's timeline, not He on mine. To listen to a full length version of this hymn, please click here. (Not my video, and I don't know who created it, but it's beautiful!)
currently drinking:
Coffee: Gevalia Indian Budan Peak - Oh yum! I love this stuff. Although, to be honest, I have yet to meet a Gevalia coffee that I don't like.
Tea: Twinings English Breakfast - This makes a rather strong cup of tea. Probably a good place to start if you're used to coffee and want to transition to tea, as it can be bitter (especially if you happen to over-steep it). It definitely takes some getting used to, but it's growing on me.
I have a video to prove how windy it really was, but I can't figure out how to get it to upload. I'm still new at this blogging thing! I think the local TV station said it was around 60 mph.
After a while, the rain stopped. Grateful for what we had, we went inside. Sometime later, my husband let the dog out to go, and it was raining again! This time it was a gentle rain with very little wind but lots of lightening. We heard a "pop" as lightening struck something close by, and expected the loud crash of thunder that usually follows something like that, but it never happened. The lights were still on in the house, but the strobe light that indicates that the irrigation system behind our house is running was no longer flashing. Thursday afternoon, my husband told me that pop of lightening we heard, had ruined the control panel for that irrigation system, as well as the pump for the system's well. So, that irrigation system is off for at least a few days (maybe weeks) until the new pump can get here. At this time of the year, it's pretty important that the irrigation keeps running 24/7, so it looks like we're back to praying for rain again! We have to trust God to provide water for that field now, since He took out the irrigation system.
As of right now, it's 3 p.m. and only 92 degrees! This is what August is SUPPOSED to feel like, but after the extreme heat of the past several weeks, it feels almost cool. We had 1.25 inches of rain Wednesday night. That beautiful rain brought not only much needed moisture, but relief from the heat. Even if only for a few days. "Be still, my soul, the wind and rain still know His voice who ruled them while he dwelt below." He sends the rain (and the wind and lightening!) in His time, no amount of leaving the laundry on the line or vehicle washing will make it come any sooner. I need to remember that I live on God's timeline, not He on mine. To listen to a full length version of this hymn, please click here. (Not my video, and I don't know who created it, but it's beautiful!)
currently drinking:
Coffee: Gevalia Indian Budan Peak - Oh yum! I love this stuff. Although, to be honest, I have yet to meet a Gevalia coffee that I don't like.
Tea: Twinings English Breakfast - This makes a rather strong cup of tea. Probably a good place to start if you're used to coffee and want to transition to tea, as it can be bitter (especially if you happen to over-steep it). It definitely takes some getting used to, but it's growing on me.
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