He Showed Me the Rain

As I have become older, I have thought about the impact we each have on the lives of others.
I have grieved over the loss of good friends who are gone.
And I have wondered "What happened?" to acquaintances who did not stick around long enough to be more than an acquaintance.
Usually these people were needy and took the gift of friendship and left.

Friendship takes time.
Friendship is like learning to dance.
Step by step you figure out the friendship rhythm without losing your own beat.
Friends complement your dance even if occasionally they step on your toes.

As I pondered the wonder and gift of friendship, the Lord showed me the rain.
The slow steady drizzle, a mist, and the drenching rain.
Rain that falls quickly, rain that covers with moisture and rain that arrives with noticeable intent
As I questioned Him, "How and why can we pour out love and help into another person and just be forgotten?
Used in some instances and then discarded?

He showed me the rain.
Rain that quenched the need of the earth, yet the raindrops were not noticed individually.
Yet, each drop met a need.
Rain, like friendship is a gift from God, meeting a need
Sometimes noticed only temporarily because it brought relief, not simply because it was rain.

Sometimes our gift of friendship to one another is like the rain.
Absorbed and forgotten, yet needed. A gift from God that has fulfilled its purpose.

So He uses us to rain His love and care
One drop at a time, rivers of living water, flowing out of our bellies-one to another.
Friends.
Friends who had been and friends who will be...
Filled and watered by His love.
One drop at a time.
I showed myself friendly and He showed me the rain.

~Debbie