Heavenly Timpani

[Editors Note:  Terry chose to ramble just a bit here - actually alot.  I couldn't stop him.  If you don't have 10 minutes right now, then read this later when you can slow down and savor every word.  He has asked that you - the reader - be blessed somehow by these words.  May it be so.]

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The clouds poured down water,
       the skies resounded with thunder;
       your arrows flashed back and forth. ---Psalm 77:17

Good Morning Java Journey Fellowship Group:

Sunday night I was sitting out on my front porch a little after 11 pm.  I was enjoying the warm night, the gentle breeze stirring, the intermittent clouds blowing past the bright, large moon.  It was a nice evening to be sitting outside waiting on my dogs to take care of business.  I wondered for a few minutes why the weather couldn't have been this nice just 24 hours ago, when my son and I were camping beside the Linville River - way down deep in the Linville Gorge.  It began raining in the gorge about 4 pm Saturday afternoon and rained steady, not hard but steady until about 5 AM Sunday morning.  We cooked our supper with our rain gear on, we ate out in the elements, we cleaned up our kitchen mess and we talked a bit with the two other Boy Scout adults who were brave (stupid) enough to stand out in the rain.  Mike asked, "what do you think this weather looks like on the Weather Channel right now?"  I said I am sure it would be a big green blob on the radar.  Gene said he had watched the weather channel and a big "red" blob was coming!  Geoffrey and I went to our tent about 8 or so as we were tired of being in the rain. 

In our tent we were dry - the tent was doing its job.  We lay there and talked, we played word games, we were silly, we were serious.  We laughed - alot.  Geoffrey and I lay there in the tent beside the Linville River in the steady rain and he and I had a moment - we enjoyed each other's company and we bonded as father and son just a bit.  After a couple of hours we were getting tired so we decided to get some sleep.  As the night wore on, the rain got just a bit more steady and we were still dry.  Sometime around 3 AM there was a big flash of lightning and then the most amazing sound I have heard in a long time.  It sounded like timpani - kettle drums - being played with gusto as the thunder bounced off the walls of the gorge.  The sound rolled back and forth bouncing from the East wall then to the West wall of the gorge.  This "heavenly timpani" concert played on for several seconds, the sound so deep that it rattled the ground beneath our wet tents.  I turned to Geoffrey and said "did you hear that?".  "Yes", he replied.  I said, "we would be a 'red blob' on the Weather Channel right now!"  The rain got harder, beating on the top of our little tent.  The timpani concert and the light show continued for a while.  

Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, ---James 1:2

Back to Sunday night and my pondering about the weather again....if we had had beautiful weather Saturday night in the gorge, we would have missed that special time of laughing in our tent - we would have been outside around the campfire with the other boy scouts.  We would have missed the sound of the rain beating on the top of our tent, we would have missed the awesome light show provided by the lightning.  We would have missed the heavenly timpani rolling through the gorge.  It was one of those times when the circumstances could have been difficult, but God provided an opportunity for father and son to laugh, talk, bond - and then to see His glory in nature.  

and all of creation sing with me now
lift up your voice and lay your burden down
and all of creation sing with me now
fill up the heavens let his glory resound

----from All of Creation, by Mercy Me

Sometimes we humans think we know exactly what we want - clear blue skies, warm dry air, a campfire surrounded by people.  God will give days like those.  But He may choose to give us some rain, some thunder - some time alone with our son.  Whatever the circumstances - rain or shine, warm or chilly, bountiful or meager....these are circumstances that Almighty God has placed us in.  And in the midst of what could be the considered a trial by most of us - in the very midst of the worst of all that - the heavenly timpani began to play.  His glory resounds and fills up the heavens.  I considered Saturday night - in the steady rain, in the confines of my tent with my son, with the lightning flashing and the thunder roaring - I considered it pure joy.  Because my Father was there with me....and my son.  And the three of us had a moment.  It may have been a "red blob" on the Weather Channel, but it was pure gold in my heart.  Amen!

Challenge:  take a hike guys.  Go into the gorge and sit on a HUGE boulder and see the power of the river as it flows.  Take your son, your daughter, your wife, your friend..  And if it begins to rain, don't run for cover - lift up your voice, lay your burden down and with all of creation sing.  Consider it pure joy!

Wow!  My heart is full as I type these words early on Tuesday morning.  Sometimes in life we will find ourselves in the deepest valley.....then it begins to rain.  There in that valley of life God loves you just as much as He loves you from the very top of the mountain.  He loves you in the valley and He is there with you - providing for your needs.  Let's choose to consider it PURE joy.  And all together now.......let's lift up our voices and with all of creation sing!

And on Thursday morning early let's gather at Java Journey and enjoy a moment or two with each other there.  I'm praying for rain then so we can hunker down in The Gathering Place and sip, and be silly, and be serious...and laugh.  C U There.

Terry

the reason we breathe is to sing of his glory
and for all he has done praise the father praise the son

 and the spirit in one

 ----from All of Creation, by Mercy Me