Posts filed under ‘Nature’
Rain and Marriage
Image via Wikipedia
What a marvelous day we had yesterday; we received a downpour of rain in the midst of a drought. It was wonderful waking up to the swooshing sound of the wind and rain pounding on the roof as well as the cracking of thunder in the air.
Contrast that with today in which the morning was overcast, but by the afternoon the sun was shining gloriously.
What does this have to do with marriage, you may ask? Well, when I worked as a physical therapist, I had the pleasure of getting to know numerous patients and their spouses who had been married well over 50 years. I always made it a point to ask, “What’s your secret to a long-lasting marriage?” I received many typical responses and some humorous ones. I wish I had written them all down, but over the years, there was one response that stood out. One response that was simple, yet so profound.
The woman told me, “Marriage is just like the weather. I do not expect every day to be bright and sunny. It has to rain sometime, but when it rains, I know there is sunshine right around the corner.”
Her point: There will be ups and downs and that is absolutely normal. Just wait it out and you’ll see the calm after the storm. You will realize the rain was necessary to cause the flowers of your marriage to bloom.
That has affected me to this day. Maybe someone out there needed to hear this today. I hope it can bring you some encouragement.
Do you have any marriage advice you’ve received that has greatly changed the way you look at your marriage? I’d love to hear it!
Putting it All into Perspective
I just wanted to share another one of my favorite YouTube videos today (in my opinion, the best part starts at about 1 min 30 sec of the video). Sometimes I love to stop what I am doing and consider the vastness of the universe. It sure makes any of my problems, no matter how huge, seem small.
What really blows my mind is that the God of all creation (of all this vast space) is concerned for me and cares about my day-to-day. I know He loves me. What a marvelous God!
Have you ever witnessed anything that puts the whole world into perspective? I’ve never visited the Grand Canyon, but I imagine that would be one of those experiences.
Rustling Leaves
I love staying home with my daughter and taking care of her, but I must admit that some days can be tough. There are those days where my daughter is happy and smiling all day long and then there are those days where she is upset. I usually run out of ideas of what to do together in the late afternoon and I find myself looking at the clock counting down the time until my husband gets home from work.
Well, one day last week, she was having a particularly fussy afternoon and my husband called and said he would be home a little late. What to do? I tried everything I knew to make her happy: fed her, changed her diaper, brought out her favorite toys, gave her a cold teether to chew on, but nothing was helping.
Finally, I decided to go outside and what a difference the change of scenery made! Immediately she calmed down and became happy. I let her put her feet in the grass and touch the grass. She was elated! She loved it! I blew some bubbles and she watched with joy as they floated through the air. Eventually, she was so calm and happy that she rested her head on my chest and we both looked up at the sky.
We saw the rustling of the leaves on the tree in our backyard. I had never looked at the tree from this perspective before (and I probably never would have had it not been for my daughter). How beautiful! How soothing! As I rested there I marveled at God’s creation, and Isaiah 55:12 came to mind, “You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands.” In that moment I realized that tree is doing exactly what it is created to do. My daughter, though fussy at times, is doing exactly what she is created to do at the moment. So, how about you; what were you made to do? Are you fulfilling your unique purpose in life?
