Finding Hope In Dry Places
Summer has been dry and hot for so many areas this year. Now that we live in an agricultural state, there is a new appreciation for the difficulty of farming.
A keen awareness of how the lack of rain is affecting crops.
Large corn and soybean crops are planted in a seemingly cracked desert landscape where soil once was. Where summer grass usually welcomes bare feet, this year it is dry and crunchy.
The neighborhood is a sea of brown, excepting an unusually high yield of bright green weeds, tall and unkept in most yards.
It’s as if many have given up and are hiding inside, looking for a cool escape from the news-making heatwave.
Most of my flowers have died, despite hand watering. Today I went to buy some small plants to bring a burst of color to the porch.
There were none in the garden section left at the store. A few large plants, but their entire garden area was condensed into one display.
It is with special joy, you see, that I tend to my bright spot of green adorning my porch. One geranium plant. God always puts something bright in our desolate situations, and in times like this we have to look hard.
I don’t mean to minimize the challenges that face our land. I don’t know what that bright spot is for the agricultural world. I hope they find it, I really do.
We pray for rain.
Man is fond of counting his troubles but he does not count his joys. If he counted them up, as he ought to, he would see that every lot has enough happiness provided for it- Fyodor Dostoevsky
Look closer to find hope in dificult times
In the dry times here though, we decide to look for the brilliant.
My husband has hours freed up each weekend with no grass to mow. He likes yard work but is choosing to relish the time. The grass crunches but yet the tree still provides shade to sit under.
And with so few flowers, how much more is the sense of appreciation heightened for this greenery?
Its distinct scent fills my nostrils as I lean in to prune it. We have water to use simply for nourishing our plants, when millions don’t have it even to drink.
In the dryness there is beauty. Gratitude. Increased observation for what lives. And hope. Even as I type, a gray cloud thunders above.
Perhaps this will be the one that showers our land. And, the cycle will shift again.
Resources to help your peace of mind:
The Art of Rest: Faith To Hit Pause In A World That Never Stops
Peace with the Psalms: 40 Readings to Relax Your Mind and Calm Your Heart
Find Peace: A 40-day Devotional Journey For Moms
Not Just A Mom: The Extraordinary Worth of Motherhood & Homemaking
The Highly Sensitive Person: How to Thrive When the World Overwhelms You (ps, I am an HSP, are you?)
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This is so well written Christa. I really appreciate your prospective.
Thank you so much Beth, I appreciate the encouragement
Lord, please bring rain to the dry land. Amen
Boy did He last night!!! I have never been so scared in a storm in my life. We were in a Home Depot, the power blinked off twice, completely dark. It was RAGING, Wind, Lightning and Thunder like I have never experienced.