Walking in the Rain

These days as we make the most of our restrictive environment, my mind wandered back to when I felt gloriously unrestrained.

We had settled into our new house in Brooklyn and had established a routine for day-to-day life. At the ripe old age of twelve, I took public transportation, navigating the streets of Brooklyn. I never felt afraid though I knew to be aware of my circumstances. 

One particular day, I was walking home from school because I missed my bus. It started to drizzle, and I realized I had no umbrella, nor was I wearing a jacket with a hood. We had an unspoken rule that we never got our hair wet as it meant washing, drying, braiding again. I had a relaxer at that time, so I also thought if my hair got wet, no big deal! (after all, wasn't that the point?) All of these thoughts ran through my mind initially as the rain became a steady

Notes From My Daughter - In Times of Doubt, God Cares

Occasional notes from my second daughter a college graduate, at the cusp of the next stage of her life. I never know what to expect when she writes, but I am always blown away. Did this child come from me? Read on!

Do you believe that God cares even when it seems He doesn't?

The Rogue Squirrel

For the past three weeks in Southern California, it has been raining consistently. Every day there is rain - lots of it, torrential downpours. Nothing like I've seen since I've lived here. As I was listening to the rain and working one morning, I noticed movement in the backward. I stopped for a second then continued working. But the movement was still there, so I explored further. There was a squirrel in one of the chairs. Somehow he had poked a hole in the seat and was taking the cotton out of the chair. When the squirrel became aware of me, it ran off with the cotton in its mouth. I had never seen that before and it made me smile and marvel at the same time.

I could only deduce that he was using the cotton to keep his living quarters warm. I did some online research which confirmed that squirrels make nests in trees of leaves and limbs but for extra warmth, they will use whatever they can find, like carpet fibers and cotton.

The unseasonably cold and rainy weather brought that squirrel to a chair in my backyard where I witnessed him absconding with a mouthful of cotton. I'm not an animal lover by any stretch of the imagination, but this simple act by the squirrel magnified the greatness of God in all of His creation. That pesky squirrel was ingenious enough to find additional warmth for his nest by using my backward chair. It's a minor inconvenience for me and a lifesaver for the squirrel.

When I look at nature and see God's handiwork, I can only say that he is amazing. When I see how everything in nature works together perfectly, again I'm amazed. I surely could not have provided such detail if it were up to me. And if God can wire a squirrel to take care of itself, how much more care went into me? Just like He made that squirrel, He made me and knows every part of me. 

For the life of every living thing is in his hand and the breath of every human being. Job 12:10 [NLT]

Does nature move you to praise God?