Afternoon Thunder clouds and Blueberry Tears

Afternoon Thunder clouds and Blueberry Tears

Bag loaded with fresh cucumbers, zucchini and squash, I wipe my humidity soaked brow and look back at the darkening sky. Lord, let those clouds produce rain, I muttered out loud, while my expired tennis shoes crunch over red clay. Walking toward the house I picture my husband on a church softball field and think of the much different prayer those dark clouds release from the tongues ball wielding men and women.

Taking advantage of the cooler air, I refill squirrel eaten bird seed and take a seat on brick and mortar. The sky continues to grow darker as the wind wipes through the trees and the clouds produce low rumbles within their mystery.

Thinking back to the softball field, I walk slowly to my small blueberry bushes. Lord, how many contradictory prayers must you hear? How do you decide whose prayer to answer? Whispered words from my Lord enter my soul, I answer them all, He speaks, as I see a ripe blueberry nestled in a cluster of greens and pale gray. Smiling, I pluck my prize, clean it between my fingers and allow my memories to dive back to a small freckled faced boy standing with pot in hand, looking forward at a blueberry tree that stood high above his little face. Pawpaw stood with us, as we began to fill those pots and a small voice cried out, “Pawpaw, I not see one blueberry, not one.” Pawpaw with child-like words shook his head and said, “Son, there are blueberries everywhere.” As he used his hands to guild the freckled face upward. “You just have to look.”

Tiny drops of rain glistened my arms as tears rolled down my cheeks. Oh for just one more moment, one sweet moment….. 

Savoring the first ripe blueberry of the year I turned my salted cheeks upwards and relived that moment while understanding my answer from God. We tend to look straight ahead, into the problem, like my boy looked at the barren spot on the blueberry tree and gave up all hope of finding more berries, when all he had to do was look up. We tend to only look at what we can see instead of having faith in the unseen. If my sweet little one had looked up his hunt for blueberries would have yielded more fruit than his little pot could hold! Like us, if we only look for the perceived unanswered prayers, we lose sight of the way God answered our prayer.

God answers all prayers, we just need to look up to the Father to see the many blessings, glory, and Joy, in the way He is answering.

 Some days when I write, I find myself in a sort of God moment, where I write out words that just flow out of the pen… I wrote this after my moment by the blueberry bush. All while the rain drizzle flowed over me.

Christ found me- in my unhappy, busy, self-defeated place. He turned a memory into a lesson – He lifted my eyes to the heavens, with a storm baring down and washed away the deep sadness, through redeeming tears. Crying done on brick, relief came in the storm.

You don’t have to wait until the storm is over to feel relief. Grieving and healing can be accomplished while the darkest of clouds, the strongest of wind bends the trees, with rain drops wet on your skin.

Being in the storm doesn’t have to mean a state of constant grief. God doesn’t leave us in the storm. He is there, riding out the storm with us.

               

Cloud covered Mountains

Cloud covered Mountains

I am sure of this, that he who started a good work in you will carry it on

to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

Philippian’s 1:6

Back coffee steaming in a borrowed mug, family members gathering in the kitchen and I sip the too hot brew while staring at the Blue Ridges of North Carolina’s mountain tops. The first signs of morning touch the sky in coral and blue grey clouds, as dense fog blankets the sleeping town below.

Wrapped in a blanket, with a cool breeze across me, I look at the cloud covered mountains, search for the familiar Grandfather, hidden in coral shadows. I think to myself, these mountains my God can move if I just have the faith of a mustard seed. I stare, silently willing that faith of small seed to start moving the mountains in my own life, when a fly buzzes in my ear, and it’s gone. The faith I try to find is silenced by the fast world around me. Family begins to come to the porch and early morning rituals begin of coffee and laughter. 

Like our lives that move quickly and cluttered with too much, “To Do”, on our list and too little peace, our mustard seed faith vanishes as our prayer time with the Father is less and less to make time for early morning work outs, early morning commutes, afternoon practices, dinner, laundry, homework, Television, streaming, etc.. etc… etc.. 

His promise does not falter under the pressures of our life. He hears our prayers while we drive into work, as we sit at soccer practice and as we read a short devotion or a scripture or two in the mornings.  As I looked across the mountains on that morning, I saw mountain peaks of all sizes and I felt a peace ascend as I realized, just because your mountain is slow to move, doesn’t mean God isn’t moving it. He will be faithful to completion, as His Word declares. Hold to that mustard seed and breathe deep in the knowledge of His fulfillment.  

About this entry:

I wrote this while on vacation with my entire family.  A few of us early risers would enjoy the first pots of coffee while sitting outside on dew covered chairs. It was while sitting in the quiet and watching the clouds move around the mountains that I began to write this. I had just enjoyed a small devotion and God began to speak. 

I take advantage of the quiet times, as those are the times I hear my Lord speaking. It can be in the car while driving on my long commute or sitting outside before the family rises. When is your quiet time? Do you ever just put your phone down and listen to the stillness? I recommend mornings with steaming hot coffee.....and maybe a mustard seed in hand. 

Lord, I lift up the readers today and pray they find peace and stillness in you. I ask that you are with the ones in need of a mountain moved, whether it's a wayward child, healing of the body, mental peace, whatever it is, I ask you to move their mountain. Amen.