Bring the Rain

I sit here today at work and am having trouble focusing. Partly I think because of the weather, partly because...well, I don't know. One of my flourescent lights went out this morning, I got to listen to about 20 kids sing "If You're Happy and You Know It", and just heard someone talk about how painful childbirth is. Pretty much anything can happen or be said in a church. So, never a dull moment. It's been over a month yet again since I posted, and so much has happened that I don't even know what to talk about. I'm not generally one to use this as a "this is what my life is in detail" thing, but I don't really know what else to put. I feel like I sorta have to get all the random stuff out before I can start doing specific stuff again. So, this is what you get.

The weather has been amazing, and I've been out riding my bike a lot lately, which is awesome. I had forgotten just how much fun it is, and it's a nice way to see parts of town that I wouldn't otherwise see. Well, amazing up until the last day or two, that is...now it's supposed to rain for a week. The snow is gone though, the frass is actually turning green, and the temperatures have been anywhere from 40 to almost 80 in the past two weeks, so plenty of variety.

Lent is still going on, which means Wednesday nights at church are comprised of our confirmation kids and their mentors. I love seeing the sanctuary full of the pairs after the service is over, watching them carry on conversations, and seeing some of them there for a good half hour just talking. Who said kids and adults can't understand, and dare I say, even appreciate each other?

Palm Sunday is this weekend, Holy Week is next week, and Easter is just a week and a half away. Wow. March disappeared in the blink of an eye, and summer is remarkably close. Weird.

March was full of a lot of crazy stuff...and most of it just kinda seemed like recovering from all of the random stuff that happened in February. Things are slowly settling back down. March held a lock in, first communion, new members...my first shot at giving a sermon, lots of meetings, the first day of spring, daylight savings, a chance to meet a former pastor, and lots of decisions. Sights are focused on the end of the school year, the end of the confirmation year, summer plans, and surprisingly enough, even the beginning of the next school year. It was a good month...perhaps even great--there was just something about all that happened that made it so.

I am currently reading perhaps one of the best books I've read in a while - Blue Like Jazz. I can't believe I waited so long to read it after having it suggested to me by so many people - but I'm kind of glad I did. It just seems to fit my thought processes lately. I'm not even quite half way through it, but already love it - the author has an amazing talent for making you think and see things in a different way. And actually, I think some of my next few posts, if I get around to doing them like I want to, will be about points made in that book. It could be a lot of fun I think.

Here is one thought, and then I think I will be done, because I'm having trouble remembering a lot of what has happened as of late. It's been a lot of random stuff...

Out on one of my bike rides the other day, I headed out to one of the parks in town that has a couple trails running through some woods. It was 75 degrees, bright sun, and for all intents and purposes...it felt like summer. As I was riding through the trees, I saw a butterfly, which I guess surprised me more that I was seeing one at the end of March. It flitted around for a while, and I wanted to see if I could snap a picture of it. Finally, it landed on a branch, and I got a little closer look at it...and realized that it was missing a good chunk of one of its wings.

I didn't notice when it was flying, going about its business. It didn't seem any different than any other butterfly I'd ever seen. But, it was broken. Not whole.

Did it matter? I don't know. I found myself wondering if the butterfly was in pain, or if it had felt pain when its wing was torn. If it did, you wouldn't know. They don't talk, after all, and it wasn't acting any different than any other I'd seen.

So, I tried for a while to take a picture that showed the broken wing, and half succeeded, but then it flew off down the trail. I now have that picture as the wallpaper on my computer, I guess to serve as a reminder. Of what, I'm not totally sure yet. Perhaps it is a reminder of how some people hide their pain, or ignore it at least. Perhaps it is a reminder of how we can still be okay even if we are broken in some way. And perhaps, in some way that I don't yet understand, I saw something of myself in that butterfly, whether it was what I have just described, or something different altogether.

Either way - I am going to end with the lyrics from a song by MercyMe called "Bring the Rain" - fitting because of the weather...and perhaps fitting anyway.


I can count a million times
People asking me how I
Can praise You with all that I've gone through
The question just amazes me
Can circumstances possibly
Change who I forever am in You

Maybe since my life was changed
Long before these rainy days
It's never really ever crossed my mind
To turn my back on you, oh Lord
My only shelter from the storm
But instead I draw closer through these times
So I pray

Bring me joy, bring me peace
Bring the chance to be free
Bring me anything that brings You glory
And I know there'll be days
When this life brings me pain
But if that's what it takes to praise You
Jesus, bring the rain

I am Yours regardless of
The dark clouds that may loom above
Because You are much greater than my pain
You who made a way for me
By suffering Your destiny
So tell me what's a little rain
So I pray

Holy, holy, holy
Holy, holy, holy
Is the Lord God Almighty,
Is the Lord God Almighty