Fall has definitely arrived in the Pacific Northwest. Wild black berries are ripe. Brown bears are consuming them. A neighbor saw one in our rural neighborhood last week. Salmon are spawning up stream. Spiders are spinning beautiful webs everywhere including across my doorways. Leaves are turning red and yellow, especially the tree I see every day from my windows. And the rain!!!! It is coming down faster than the house gutters can carry it away. Then there is the wind that makes the trees dance up a storm. It’s all beautiful.
You heard me right. It is beautiful. I learned this over the years of weathering the storm in my own life. Now, when I see rain, whether mist, drizzle, intermittent showers, or downpours, I see God’s blessings in it. His blessings just keep coming and coming into our lives.
And the wind. Whether a gentle breeze that barely causes a leaf go move, or a gale that makes the trees dance a fandango I am always reminded that the Holy Spirit moves like the wind–wherever it wishes doing what it wills.
About the bears and spiders. How do I see God in the predators, great and small? The bears dine on God-given provisions of berries as well as the salmon in our rivers. These are necessary for surviving their long winter of hibernation. In my winter of hibernation, the Lord also provided what I needed to survive, not in berries and salmon, but in family, friends, and his Spirit.
Here is what the spiders tell me when I see them across my doorways prepared to catch flies and other insects. I have a heavenly father who guards me by fighting off the enemy who desires to gain entry into my personal world. Yes, in reality, I do have to move the spiders at times, especially when they are looking me in the eye. I don’t kill them. They are the beneficial spiders that love my daughter-in-law’s garden.
Today the buckets of rain pouring off the roof, and the strong winds moving the tree tell me the Lord is at work. It’s a Holy Spirit kind of day because the weather reminds His Spirit is powerfully moving and his blessings are abundantly flowing.
What a wonderful day. Now I have to go into it. That is another story for another day.
