there's something about the rain.

I've been thinking about rain a lot the past two days...mainly because it has been pouring buckets and dropping like bottle caps. I have found myself cursing the rain every time I spent the extra few minutes in front of the mirror straightening my hair and then walking outside only to let the humidity of the mist change my style. I cringe thinking I can't take the kids out on the playground at school, knowing I will have to deal with finding something to do with them inside. And having to slow down my driving is like ultimate torture, especially since I plan my travel time with perfect conditions in mind always. I think that I am not alone, and as much as I like to preach of God's power, I find that secretly, I only see rain as an inconvenience.

Here are my thoughts...

Rain=God's Mercy.

Rain, like God's mercy pours down on our lives. Rain exposes dirt and washes it away. After the rain, all things have been made clean. God does the same thing. He extends his mercy so that our sin, which so evidently builds, can be washed away. We can be made clean.

Here's the thing...
We resist God's cleansing power. We like being dirty. We see our sin and we either,
1. like it too much to release our grasp on it,
or
2. wish to sit in the comfort of despair.

When God reigns down on our lives, he is constantly changing us and making us more perfect, more like his son. In doing so, he release us from the things we wish to hold on to, and turns our eyes onto himself. We don't trust the Lord that he is better than our idols. And we definitely love playing the card of despair, finding comfort in turning inward and away from the Lord. We find comfort in doing our own cleansing in our own time.
Just like the rain, we hate going out in it. We are uncomfortable, and becoming clean is a hard, inconvienent process. But the rain is unavoidable, and God's mercy is an undeserved, sovereign reign on our lives.

I feel like I have been going through a season of rain. But I can't be made clean without walking outside into it first.


And just like coming out of the rain, I will not come out of this looking the same way I did when I left.

Droplets

The air was stagnant,
with a pressure to cry

and the animals stood still as ivory stone.

Sadness finally poured from her heart-
Idols of a place revisited revealed.
The seemingly precious gems now ground up to fine dust-

Colorless and Overwhelming.



His feet gladly stood in the sand.
The feet of Love were there without motive or regard
Yet she cried out to others to view this mess as acceptable.

Drops big as bottle caps hit the windshield
For only a few seconds,

But long enough to leave not a trace of dirt.

(4/12/08)

Its been a month since I wrote this. And its still raining.

I'm still here.

The Sun

Addicted to the sun
I'm in withdrawl.
The dark traps me,
I want to run.

And run I will
From the silhouette of who I was.
My heart,
I spill.

Sunlight, rays I soak up
Stifle the tears
To cry would be...
Light that blinds my fears.

The sun like the endless sea
Drowns out the darkness
And releases me.
Light, and I can see...

Though my eyes are closed.

-Casey Reese


Casey wrote this poem on February 20, 2008. Five days later on February 25, she heard the Gospel and believed it.
Casey is one of the most beautiful people I know. She is such an encouragement and joy to be around. Pray that her heart would continue to be transformed by Jesus before she even realizes what He is doing.

Steph.

She sits unmotivated but held captive by joy
The kind of captivity that others long to know about
The mystery unfolds in her smile
The secret spoken of in her eyes
A feeling of familiarity overwhelms the soul
A spirit of an omniscient one
An all loving one
A heart is known through the words He pours from her mouth
And Beauty transcends.

My heart lately...

If you need air.

9:06 AM
Wrapped in sheets- the bottom of her jeans wet from morning's efforts.
If you need air- the open window looks inviting.
Snow seems to stretch for eternity- covering the earth lain out by a King.
The miry clay wrapped in her own blanket,
Red flesh unseen by the consistent grace of each individual flake.

How beautiful and yet how easily forgotten.

Out of the clay she came and
Into the clay she will return-
The crimson dirt no longer stained with the blood of her transgressions.

The window pain, cracked and cold, calls her to the great promise of renewal

By the covering of grace

Only a King can pour out.

Springboro LOVE

I still can't believe this...the Lord is so good.


TEAM SPRINGBORO

Teach me to throw off the hindrance of self-idolitry and replace it with a heart that desires Your kingdom oh God.

"And the Gospel of the Kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come." [Matthew 24:14]

I feel like I've been learning a lot about the Kingdom of Heaven and the treasure of meeting our Father there. I wish I knew Him better. I wish we didn't have to suffer anymore. I wish I could accept grace and abide in peace. Why is it so hard to sell everything? Why can't His love be sufficient? Why can't I trust His plans? I wish I could let Him break my hands without a struggle...

"So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless, and at peace with Him." [2 Peter 3:14]

Oh come, Lord Jesus--Maranatha!