April showers bring May flowers is I suspect a northern expression because our rainy season doesn’t usually begin until May, but we got an early reprieve this year. I heard one person say last week that she just sat at her window and watched her grass turn green. Unfortunately some of our neighbors in Ft. Lauderdale are cleaning up from the devastating rainfall they received a few weeks ago. Rain can be a blessing or a curse depending on amounts and timing. It may not be long before we are wondering when the rain will stop, but we have very little say in when it comes and goes or where it rains when it does fall.

As a child, I thought when it rained, it rained everywhere at once. However, when I was 7 or 8 it started raining in the backyard so we came in from playing, but when I went to the front of the house, I looked to see no rain. It took some convincing to get my older sister to come out front to see the clear skies. Thankfully, the rain stopped just before the peak of the roof and so we ran in and out of the rain that day. As far as I know, this is mostly a Florida phenomenon because it isn’t the same in the few other places I have lived.

Rain has always reminded me of God’s blessings. They fall where they will, but more importantly, like the rain we can easily take it for granted. Every day is filled with God’s blessings if we look around. If you are reading this, you woke up this morning and I would argue that is a blessing from God. One day, I won’t wake up or I will fail to go to sleep and that will be a blessing from God because I firmly believe that I will be in God’s presence on that day. In the meantime, I will thank God for the blessings of life. I realize that like the rain, God’s blessings don’t always feel evenly distributed, but they are here if we can see them. I have taken to posting on my Facebook page, pictures of sunrises, sunsets or other nature shots that I see. Some mornings or evenings there isn’t much to see, but how often do we fail to look? Has anyone blessed you with a smile today or vice versa? Blessings are not just something for us to take, but something to give as well.

My hope is that today will be filled with blessings both those received and those you can give away. In my experience, the more you give, the more you will receive.