“If we have planted something, we shall see rainy days differently.”
When a good friend of mine shared she was really struggling with her move to Seattle (nearby Vancouver and very similar in climate) even after being there for over a year, I had offered up a strategy that seemed to have worked for me. Of course, I hadn’t moved here from sunny Las Vegas followed by equally sunny San Diego (I had moved from Ohio, which has weather all over the map–sometimes in a single day!). But I understood how normal it can be to struggle with the loonnnggggg rainy seasons of our area.
In severe cases, pro-longed cloudy/rainy weather can be clinically diagnosed as Seasonal Affect Disorder, for which things like special lamps which imitate Sunlight, or regularly scheduled vacations to very sunny spots are in order. These of course can be options available to us all — if there is a deficit of sunlight that our bodies feel/experience physically, then physical counter-measures can keep us physiologically out of deficit.
The approach I ended up taking a few years back was finding and buying a pair of rainboots that I love. I have in mind one day to also find an umbrella that I would love to use, to carry around and to gaze at… Because for such things, it gives me a reason to hope that, however much I love sunshine and warm days that beckon us outside, we will also have rainy days that warrant wearing the rainboots (and in the future, opening up that pretty umbrella).
Of course, it doesn’t need to be rainboots, or an umbrella…. It could be a routine you adopt for rainy days that bring a smile to your face (i.e. your excuse for grabbing a hot cup of coffee or specialty drink from Starbucks?). It could be imagining you’re fighting against the elements as some kind of superhero, conquering the day? You could put together a “rainy day” playlist — hopefully with sun-shiny songs — that you put on whenever it’s one of those days…
What occurred to me last night, however, while driving in the rain with my husband for our turn to go watch Star Wars (which I really enjoyed by the way), was since I so recently finished planting my bulbs, I was actually really happy to see that we were getting more rain…because now when it rains, it means my bulbs are being watered, in a sense, by Heaven… my plants, which I’m now looking forward to the Spring to see if/what will come out from the ground, are having their need for water being taken care of.
By planting something, rain has taken on new meaning, new significance. What I can too often see as a simple nuisance to my day (although when there are prolonged seasons of drought I then daily remember to rally with the farmers!), because I have invested in trying my own hand at growing something that depends upon and benefits from this “nuisance,” I can now see it as a favor from God…as favor…
I share this random thought on rain because I sense God speaking to me regarding “rain” and “rainy days” of life in general.
There are things in life that may seem like they are nothing but nuisances, tragedies even, that we must somehow make the best of, tolerate and trudge through…but that from an eternal perspective (and only from an eternal perspective, if/when we are in the process of investing in it), they actually are “watering” seeds and bulbs planted in our hearts, which are meant to grow into something quite different from (however coming from) the seeds and bulbs themselves, but which cannot grow without the “watering”…
The sad things, the hurts, the pain, the crippling injuries, the scars, the failures, the loss…the grief….the countless hiccups and interruptions…the valleys and deserts…the righteous anger at evil and injustice that are not yet eradicated…
Romans 8:28 (in the context of Romans 8:18-39):
28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
Matthew 5:3-12 (NIV) – The Beatitudes
3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
5 Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the earth.
6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled.
7 Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
8 Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.
9 Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called children of God.
10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
Ecclesiastes 3 (NIV) – A Time for Everything
3 There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under the heavens:
2 a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
3 a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
4 a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
5 a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
6 a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
7 a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
8 a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.
9 What do workers gain from their toil? 10 I have seen the burden God has laid on the human race.11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end. 12 I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live. 13 That each of them may eat and drink,and find satisfaction in all their toil—this is the gift of God. 14 I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that people will fear him.