Few of my favorite things

I was so excited this weekend to see that one of my favorite movies, "The Sound of Music" would be on T.V. Of course I own it on VHS, but I was going to get to watch it in HD. Big deal in a house of males outnumbering mom.

My guys had been out of town and when they arrived home the house was alive with the sound of music. It has never taken much for me to embed the tunes of "doe a deer a female deer, ray a drop of golden sun" into the minds of my strapping young men. I bet you are thanking me right now for the tune that will be playing through out your day. I take my bow and say "You're Welcome" with a smile.

One of my favorite parts, really I can't narrow down which is my all time favorite, but one of them is when the children run into Maria's bedroom frightened by the storm. She teaches them the song to sing about their favorite things. You know the one, "Raindrops on Roses, whiskers on kittens....brown paper packages tied up with strings, these are a few of my favorite things." The song goes on to say, "when the dog bites, when the bee stings, when I'm feeling sad I simply remember my favorite things and then I don't feel so bad."

That got me to thinking while Gustav was sending rain our way, it being a Presidential election year and the fact that Satan is in full battle mode for us and our children, what are a few of my favorite things.

So here's a list of a few in no particular order of importance:

1. Being upstairs while the rest of the family is downstairs and hear a outburst of spontaneous laughter from the whole crew. Always brings a smile to my face.

2. Seeing a red Cardinal perched outside my kitchen window and watching the deer play in my back yard.

3. Spending time on the lake with family and friends.

4. Hearing my youngest son challenge his father and older brother, stating he can take them on. The would be opponents sitting with smiles and heads shaking back and forth.

5. Cheering for my guys in whatever sport they are playing.

One of my other favorite things is when God redirects my reading of His Word. You know the times that others say is a coincidence, to that I say "Yeah right". These are the times I think I am turning to the correct passage by instead find myself in a entirely different one. This happened just recently. I thought I was wanting to read Psalm 68 but instead I was looking for Psalm 16. Thinking I was in the correct chapter, I read through Psalm 68 and found so much. The part that really was an "Ah-hah" moment was verses 7-10. Maybe with the rains headed our way and the title of this blog that has rain on my mind but as I read I couldn't help but be amazed at God's provision.

God led the people out of Egypt and marched them through the dry wasteland. As the earth trembled and heaven poured down rain before God, he sent abundant rain to refresh the weary land. I was intrigued so I looked in a commentary for a deeper understanding. This is what I found, "This is not meant to be a literal rain, but rather a shower of blessings, i.e., manna, quail, water out of the rock, innumerable victories, protection from the enemies, etc." I am learning so quickly that I have often put God in a box. Sometimes reading the word rain as just that, the watery substance that falls from the sky. Even though it can literally be that it can be so much more. It can be His provision for big things as well as the little things. The victories that He led me to and even those favorite things from my list that happen just when I need. Our God is a god that loves to send a plentiful of rain even to our dry weary land. Praise Him!

The next few days looks to be filled with the rain from the skies but will you look for the blessing rains from God and think on your favorite things? Please let me know a few of your favorite things.

Cynthia