"He knows my name.
He knows my every thought.
He sees each tear that falls,
And hears me when I call."  (Israel Houghton)

I awakened this morning with this song on my mind.  Even though I am going through several trials at once, I find such comfort in God's knowing my name.  The Word tells me He even knows the number of hairs on my head (Matthew 10:30). He cares about every part of me, and He tells me, "Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you."  He cares for me!!!  So, that is what I do:  I cast my cares on Him.  When I can't make sense of life, I tell Him, and He takes the anxiety and tells me I am His, and that He is working.  I walk away from my time in His presence feeling lighter and settled.  Our God is amazing!!!  Only He could take this turmoil and make it something wonderful!!!  I love HIM!!!!!

Today's raindrop came in the form of favor.
Yesterday, as I was driving north on I-65, I came into a traffic jam caused by an accident that had all north-bound lanes blocked, requiring the authorities to reroute traffic onto state highway 31.  There were many impatient people who decided to use the shoulder to jump in front of those, like me, who were waiting their turn in the proper lanes to be detoured.  The exiting traffic was backed a long way down the interstate, because highway 31 was jammed, but when it was my turn to finally exit to the highway, the interstate opened up.  Those that had jumped in front of me using the shoulder were stuck on the exit, and I was able to cross back onto the interstate, one of the front cars able to do so to continue my journey in a timely manner.

Today it hit me when a Pennsylvanian friend of mine told me to wait and see the glory of God in my life.  Yesterday, when I waited and stayed where I was supposed to be and did what I was supposed to do, I found favor, favor I believe came from God. 

So..... I am waiting, staying where I am supposed to be and doing what I am supposed to do, and trusting that I will see the glory of God in my life!!  I can hardly wait!!!   

"He delivereth and rescueth, and he worketh signs and wonders in heaven and in earth, who hath delivered Daniel from the power of the lions." -- Daniel 6:27.  This verse was read during the Reading of the Word at church, and it hit me!

Do you remember the story of Daniel and the lions' den from Sunday School, how that God shut the mouths of the lions when Daniel was in their den and rendered them powerless against him?  1 Peter 5:8 says, "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour".  The Word compares satan to a lion, but our God, Who is immutable, never-changing, the same today as He was then, is still rendering satan powerless against His children!!!!   Our God delivers, He rescues, and He works signs and wonders in heaven AND in earth, and just like He delivered Daniel from the power of the lions, He delivers His children from the power of satan!!

I have had two raindrops today already.  One came in the form of my daddy telling me something he heard on cowboy church:  that circumstances in the life of a Christian should not steal peace.  I am gonna walk that way!!  The second came when I walked outside with Daddy to count his tomatoes.  On one of his two plants was the tiniest little tomato I have ever seen; the bloom was still attached, and the tomato was smaller that a raindrop, but it reminded me that God upholds everything by the word of His power.  His systems are still in place and working because He designed them and upholds their functions by His power.  That reminded me that His work in my loved one's life is functioning because of the word of His power!!!   That is the best system ever!!!

The raindrops are falling, and they are coming from all sides!  From Facebook posts of different friends to the episode of Frasier that I just watched to something our son said, the message is clear:  move into the next season eagerly and bravely, armed with lessons learned from the past, but not being bogged down with the it; do not waste this time or resources or myself; find a purpose and move in it.   
I am sad the past is over; I loved being a mommy.  Now I am "Mom," and I am looking forward to what God has for me next!!!

"Open the flood gates of heaven.  Let it rain!!"  (Paul S. Morton)

Today I am sad.  Our son is going back to Pennsylvania after helping us drive vehicles to Alabama for our big move.  I have been thinking about a memory of which our daughter reminded me last week.  When they were smaller, out daughter and son sang the above song in church together.  It was their first time singing together in church.  What a sweet memory. 

Today, this song is my prayer.  "Lord, please, let it rain.  Open the flood gates, Lord.  I believe your promises, but today I need rain, a healing, comforting rain." 

"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope." -Romans 15:13.  I want to be FILLED with ALL joy and peace in believing.  Papa Henderson used to say that when the Bible said "all," that means there ain't no more!!!  There is joy and peace in believing that God is Who He says He is and that He will do what He says He will do.  He is, and He will!!!  Now, there is a source of peace!!!

‎"For we walk by faith, not by sight." -- II Corinthians 5:7.  

I have been down today, probably from the move and not being able to be settled anywhere for a few weeks.  My friend would say it is my left-brainedness that is needing order!  Perhaps she is right, but I got a raindrop in the midst of my day.  First, I passed a church with this verse on their marquis, and then a middle school friend posted it on her Facebook page, so I decided to take notice and to accept it as a raindrop.  What I see today as my reality will not last forever.  Very soon, God's promises will be my realized!!!  For today, I willtry to walk as if those promises are already reality!!

Tuesday, I was driving down to Alabama from Pennsylvania for our big move, driving in and out of rain, when I looked to my left, and there was a HUGE double rainbow!!!  We could even see where the rainbow ended in the field right beside the road!!  I have never seen a rainbow's end before!!  What an amazing, blatant DOUBLE reminder that God keeps His promises and that I will soon see my rainbow's end, God' promises to me fulfilled!!!!

I got to witness something really cool last Wednesday!!  I looked out the window and noticed it was raining.  When I mentioned it to my son, he looked out and said that it wasn't.  I could clearly see that it was raining, so I checked from the door to the deck.  Surely enough, the deck was dry.  So we went to the front door.  It was raining in my flower bed but not on the sidewalk!!!  That was so much fun!!!

I could make comparisons to how sometimes it rains and sometimes it doesn't, but basically I just thought I got to witness a really fun act of the natural processes God created and sustains by His word.  Since this blog is called raindrops,  my daughter said I had to share it with you!!

We are moving to Alabama.  I have been packing, saying good-bye to people, cleaning out, hosting friends, cooking, packing, cleaning, doing laundry, packing, having a yard sale, packing (smile), and I am exhausted.  I was feeling particularly weary today, and I turned on Sirius' The Message, and Britt Nicole was singing, "You've been walking with the me all this time."  Then Kutless came on singing, "When the path is daunting
And every step exhausting
I'm not alone
I'm not alone, no, no
I feel you draw me closer
All these burdens on my shoulder
I'm not alone, I'm not alone."

It made me smile.  So the raindrop today is a reminder that God is with me; He has not left me alone in all of this.  I thought you might like a reminder, too.

Raindrops come to me from different sources.  Mostly they are directly from God's Word given to me by our pastor, friends, on-line, or verses I read in the morning or night or while I eat breakfast.  Exodus 33:17 came to me through a friend, and it says, "And the LORD said unto Moses, I will do this thing also that thou hast spoken:  for thou hast found grace in my sight, and I know thee by name."  It hangs on my refrigerator, because it is a promise to Moses that God would answer His prayer, and I feel that promise extends to me as a child of God. 

The clincher is, though, that I have found grace in God's sight and that He knows me by name.  I know that God knows everyone, but this speaks of a relationship.  Moses spent time with God in His very presence.  We must, too.  Spending time with God not only insures that He hears and answers our prayer, but it is an amazing source of strength and comfort during this battle.  When I am feeling anxious (You know that feeling if you are in a battle.), time with God is the only thing that helps.  Other things may distract me and get my mind off of the battle for a while, but when that distraction is over, the anxiety is back.  Time with God is not like that:  I get a "peace that passes all understanding," and when the prayer time is over, the peace stays. 

In addition to this peace, we know that our Father will hear and answer our prayers!!   I can hardly wait!!!!  This battle will be over in a victorious win!!!

I mentioned that I taught a Sunday School lesson on Great Faith vs. Dinky Faith.  I looked up all the instances where Jesus said someone had great faith and compared them to the times He said someone had little or no faith.  I figured those would be important clues to what real faith is.  The recap of that lesson is that great faith is one that is persistent and takes God at His word.  Dinky faith is faith that is not founded by prayer and fasting, does not take God at His word or trust Who He is, or does not put Him before everything else.  

If you have a promise from God, it is a promise from God:  the God Who has all power, is not limited by time or place, is all-sufficient, Who commands the armies of heaven, Who is the great I AM!!  He is so much more, and He is faithful to us.  We can trust Him.  We can take Him at His word.  We can live as though what He said is really going to happen, because it is!! 

Today's raindrop is one that has been important to me since last September. 

Deuteronomy 33:26-27 says, "There is none like unto the God of Jeshurun, who rideth upon the heaven in thy help, and in his excellency on the sky.  The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms:  and he shall thrust out the enemy from before thee; and shall say, Destroy them."  The God of Israel is just hovering, waiting to help us when we ask!!!  That blessed me, but the last part has become so important.  Let me tell you why!

I had probably read this scripture at least six times, but it was just another verse to me.  That is, until my birthday last year.  A friend of mine sent me these verses with a poem.  At first, I thought it was just a sweet gesture.  I thanked her, and she told me her story.  She is a nurse, and one morning before work, she had read these verses along with the poem for her devotional and on the way to work sang the old hymn, "Leaning on the Everlasting Arms."  During her day, a minister had come to pray for one of her patients.  She was about to leave the room to allow them privacy for the prayer when he asked her to stay.  During his prayer, he prayed, "And, Lord, help Shelia know she is in your everlasting arms."  The fact that God orchestrated those reminders was awesome in and of itself! 

A few days later, another friend of mine was going through the struggle of her life on a road to emotional recovery and was told she needed to rest in the Lord.  She started searching the scriptures to find how to do that and texted me what she found.  She found Deuteronomy 33:26-27!! 

Then the first friend sent me a youtube of a song which ended with this verse being printed over the video at the end. 

The final action that made me take notice that these verses were raindrops from God was when I picked up my Beth Moore's Praying God's Word to find scripture prayers to pray about overcoming the enemy.  The second prayer was based on...  you guessed it:  Deuteronomy 33:26-27!!!!   You see?  I had been fighting an intense spiritual battle, not only for myself, but also standing in the gap for someone I love dearly, who was and is being pursued heavily by the enemy of our souls.  I became overwhelmed!!!  It was such a precious promise that God was going to "thrust out the enemy from before" us and say, "Destroy them!"   He said it!!   I believe it!!!  I can hardly wait for it to be fulfilled!!! 

This battle is still not over, and Raindrops is the way I share the reminders God gives me from time to time that He is working and fulfilling His promises to me that my loved one will be ok in Him.  I hope they encourage you in your battle!!!  He WILL "thrust out the enemy from before" us "and shall say, Destroy them"!

I have a habit started about a year and a half ago where I read at least one verse of scripture before bed and when I get up in the morning most every day, a habit suggested by my pastor in a sermon.  This morning, I couldn't stop reading with one verse, and I found a RAINDROP!  Matthew 8:23-27 says, "And when he was entered into a ship, his disciples followed him.  And, behold, there arose a great tempest in the sea, insomuch that the ship was covered with the waves:  but he was asleep.  And his disciples came to him, and awoke him, saying, Lord, save us:  we perish.   And he saith unto them, Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith?  Then he arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm.  But the men marvelled, saying, What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him!"  From their reaction to how Jesus handled the storm, they were not awakening Him for a miracle but probably for help in dipping the water out of the boat or some other physical help, for help in the way they understood.  When He stopped the storm, they were shocked. 

I think we do this:  we ask the Lord for help in ways that we think we need help, when all along God is really able to work a miracle we may not understand.  He Who knows the future because that He is not limited by time, knows the best solution to our situations.  Perhaps it would be better to ask Him to do with our situation whatever He knows is best, rather than trying to tell God in prayer what we need Him to do. 

This is a lesson I am just now really learning.  It is my faith-builder for today!!!  I can trust God to know what is best for me and my life!! 

Why "Raindrops?"

Welcome to my blog, Raindrops!!   Why Raindrops? 

A few weeks ago, I was teaching adult Sunday School on the topic of Great Faith vs. Dinky Faith, exploring why Jesus would say some people had great faith and others little or no faith.  After talking of those accounts of Jesus, I talked of some Old Testament figures.  While I was talking about Noah, God spoke to me of how many years it took Noah to build the ark and how he continued building because he believed that what God said would happen would happen, even though there was not one drop of rain to confirm God's promise. 

God gives me raindrops all of the time, little indications that what He has promised will come true, confirmations that He is already working toward the promise, evidences of His hand is in those situations, and faith-building reminders that He "has this." 

I thought others might need raindrops, too, so I thought I would share mine with you.  I hope you get to know God better through these raindrops, and that you become more aware of your own God-given indications that you are in His hand.