Update #120 - Rain Ranking

"He makes his sun rise on people whether they are good or evil. He lets rain fall on them whether they are just or unjust." Matthew 5:45

Oak Street, Saratoga

Growing up in Seattle you become intimately acquainted with rain. Unbeknownst to most, all rain isn’t the same – there is a “rain ranking” system:

1. Mist – air is wet and foggy; you get damp, but don’t need an umbrella or hooded jacket
2. Spitting – here and there rain drops, you don’t need an umbrella but a hooded jacket is nice
3. Drizzle – steady, light rain, you can do with just a hooded jacket but an umbrella is nice
4. Shower – steady, heavier rain, an umbrella is necessary and your feet will most likely get wet
5. Pouring – heavy heavy rain, an umbrella may help, but you will be wet from the hem of your jacket down
6. Deluge – incredi-rain that soaks you to the skin with or without an umbrella, jacket, hood, or boots, within seconds (ie Tropical rain shower).

(This doesn’t take into consideration wind or fog or that mist can be involved in multiple stages…I’m trying to keep this simple!)

January overwhelmed Northern California with pouring rain showers - and its inhabitants are not used to precipitation; a spitting mist sends them into a frenzy. All point APB’s are made for their long-lost umbrellas and they realize their hoodies are mainly made from cotton and therefore ineffective against the wet. I won’t even start on the driving…it is like Seattleites in snow!

On my way home across the misty valley my wiper speed increased with each quarter mile to hyper-speed by the time I reached my house on the hill. I asked God about the crazy weather conditions and remembered the verse about “showers on the righteous.”

I was a little slow on the uptake and remarked back “Not everyone on this mountain understands exactly who you are.” It was like God laughed (thunder resounded) and responded “I love them too – whether they know me or not.” That made me smile.

God is abundant. He is bountiful and he is giving. I saw this demonstrated in the rain on the hill…as a metaphor for his joy, his kindness, his care, his favor, his profuse love for us.

God wants all of human kind to come to him, to acknowledge him as creator God, Lord and Master. God gave us free will and the right to choose for ourselves; what pleasure is there in being worshipped by drones that didn’t have a choice but to serve you?

God loves each and every soul here on Earth – he knows their names and the number of hairs (or lack thereof) on their head. He provides the basics - rain and sun and tides and seasons – whether they acknowledge his hand in their orchestration or not. But to his own, to his cherished children he provides more…so much more that it overflows and affects the “unjust” – those who haven’t been justified through his son.

How soaked are you in God? Can you get by without an umbrella, jacket or hoodie? Or are you fully drenched – so much so your eyelashes are dripping? Or are you partaking of a “righteous ones” leftovers?

Updates:

Living – The condo is in the last stages of “sale” – just awaiting plastic removal and I am done!

Work – Last few weeks of training and prepping for trips to South Africa and India.

Requests:

Living – for no “hiccups.” Pray that the buyer will hold up his end of the deal and that everything will go smoothly and without issue / hindrance.

Work – for attendance of our forums in South Africa and for client recruitment in India.

Fundraising – I am actively fundraising to cover my upcoming trip to South Africa (about $3.5K with airfare). We will be working with entrepreneurs from around the world teaching them how to do business God’s way (visit http://gdop.inst.net/ to get the full story). If you would like to contribute, please visit http://repurposing.biz/contribute/ - thanks in advance for your generosity!