Rain.

Rain to me used to just mean, wet, puddle jumping weather. But now it means so much more. 

This past summer there was no rain for the longest of time. It's something that the whole staff team at summer camp were praying for. We wanted the fire ban lifted and the earth to be watered, for the first couple weeks we saw nothing close to rain. I remember one saturday night in between sessions, I was walking back up to my chalet for some reason I was really restless and decided that I needed to go back down to the docks. As I laid on the dock God gave me an image of a Tsunami, it was huge. Although the tsunami was not the only thing that I had seen, I saw small buildings that were built poorly and ones that were built stronger I saw the tsunami come crashing down on them and destorying them. I remember I then felt very heavy and began crying, I didn't quite understand what had been revealed to me yet. I pray and listened to what God was trying to tell me. He pressed the idea of rebuilding, and building up the houses again, only this time properly. He revealed that the cracks and unstable buildings  needed to be rebuilt. That heaviness kept growing. Eventually I went to bed praying my way through the night knowing that the next session was going to be one like never before, a session that God was going to move in ridiculous ways. The next morning I shared this with one of my dearest friends, she then told me she had one very similar. We prayed about it, declaring our agreement with what God was going to do, asking for His strength to carry us through that session. Later that day He revealed that the day it rains will be a very powerful one [we believed it]. This vision is much like the story in Ezekiel 13:10-16. God had been working so much throughout the session, than the day of the ' Everything Skit'. This skit shows the struggles of life and how God is always waiting for us and how He delievers us from those worldly impulses [It's such a powerful skit]. Anyways I was taking part in this skit and each time its so hard to do becuase of how people react to it, and how powerful God is in it. This day was different... before the skit [during worship] I would usually be inside the dining hall, this day I couldn't be. I felt more heaviness than every before, I wanted to escape. I stood outside on the porch just praying for a torrential down pour, praying that the tidal wave/ tsunami would hit, and that these girls would be forever different. As I was praying I began crying, then the music came on. We stood in a line ready to enter infront of all these girls. Every step I took became harder and harder, I felt like I wanted to run out of that place, I began crying more and more. God moved in that skit like never before. As the music was ending, all members of the skit were outside and I was praying that the rain would come, I took a deep breath in and out. On my out breath the music stopped and the down pour began. It began raining so hard, There was nothing left for me to do but weep. I was crying not only out of pure awe, but joy. Joy in what the Lord was doing. For my bible study right after that, we took our girls out into the down pour and began dancing and praising God for everything. After bib studs, I had my hour off and I just danced in the rain [drenched] I was still crying and so joyful, and in complete awe. 2 hours later I was still dancing. I had a completely new idea of what rain meant, this experienced has changed me forever. 

Now your probably wondering ' Why am I talking about it now?'. 

... Well today I woke up at 6;10 am to lifeguard at the Metcon Blue race [ Mountain Adventure Race 5km, 14 obstacles and 1400 foot inclination]. I was guarding the Blue Lagoon which is basically a 3 foot deep muddy water pit with 4 floating logs that they either had to go over or under. Its great. I was guarding from 8:30-3:20. So when I showed up this morning it was pouring rain and for most people they were pretty annoyed that they were volunteering in pouring rain, but I was not. I was more than happy to be standing on the top of the escarpment in the pouring rain for a day, it may have been freezing cold and wet but that did not phase me. I think that I wouldn't have rather been anywhere else, I had everything I needed. Again God showed up in that place, memories and images of that time in the summer continuously played in my head, the joy, the beauty and the Holy spirit. It was so humbling this time to be in my home community being able to see joy in other people that were experiencing the rain wether or not they were joyful for the same reasons I was, there was such a freedom in it. To be able to witness something like that is beautiful and defiantly made my day. I was then urged to bless everyone that came through, and I did. I blessed everyone of those competitors. God also lead me to a new place, a place where I can go to be alone with Him, a place away from distractions, and chaos and into a place of stillness, peace and pure beauty. I am so thankful for that.

Side note about rain..

Friend; "What are you writing about?" 
Me; "Rain"
Friend; "Oh that's good, really helps all the people who've never seen rain..."

When he first said that, I just kind of laughed. Now I'm thinking this is very true, most people have seen rain, but then again that depends on your definition of seeing. Can we see something and not understand it or even begin to process it? Well before my experience I had defiantly seen rain many times before, but never through God's eyes. Have you seen rain? Have you seen something and thought about what it might look like through God's eyes.? 

I think this is something we need to think about and ask ourselves, I also believe that this is something we should be praying more about; asking God for His eyes to see and His ears to hear and His heart to understand. I realize now that I was too independent on myself for understanding, this summer changed me in that way. I'm free, and fully dependent on God, so I lean NOT on my own understanding. Because without God we can't understand, nor can we see or hear.  

Oh I am a seed
Oh I am a seed
Won't stay long here in this earth
When you rain your love on me
Lord, rain your love on me

Amen.