JUNE-JULY-AUGUST 2010

The summer season is the season of showers. Often when we are involved in the wonderful outdoor activities of the summer months, whether picnics or ballgames or outdoor wedding receptions, we find ourselves scurrying to seek shelter because of the raindrops falling. Some people seem to be put out by the inconvenience of the rain. Yet summer showers are very much part of the whole plan of weather with which God blesses His people year by year. In Psalm 65 King David writes: “O God…You visit the earth and water it; you greatly enrich it; the river of God is full of water; you provide their grain, for so you have prepared it. You water their furrows abundantly, settling its ridges, softening it with showers and blessing its growth. You crown the year with your bounty, your wagon tracks overflow with abundance.” (Psalm 65: 9-11). Summer showers are part of God’s greater providence for our earth – even when they seem to inconvenience us along the way. God’s plans for His people are great and loving plans – even when they seem to have some challenges for us. Whether sunny or rainy, each day is “a day that the Lord has made” …and each day is a day for us to “rejoice and be glad in it” (Psalm 118:24). As we rejoice and are glad in the wonder and beauty of the summer season, may we find meaningful ways to express our thanks to our gracious God, who has made all things beautiful for us in His time.                    Pastor Wismar