The Trees of the Field are Clapping Their Hands

“The rain and snow come down from the heavens
and stay on the ground to water the earth.
They cause the grain to grow,
producing seed for the farmer
and bread for the hungry.
11 It is the same with my word.
I send it out, and it always produces fruit.
It will accomplish all I want it to,
and it will prosper everywhere I send it.
12. You will live in joy and peace.
The mountains and hills will burst into song,
and the trees of the field will clap their hands
Isaiah 55


We got some much needed rain two nights ago…….nearly five inches on our rain gauge…..it seemed to storm the whole night through. I love sleeping while it storms. Our youngest calls us before a storm. She believes that we pay little mind to weather forecasts and she is right. Monday night, the forecast was not good for a very wide area….I know because the television show I was watching was interrupted several times only to irritate me when the punch lines were missed by the interruptions. Aside from the television, our meteorologist is our daughter, Kendra. The other night I was on the phone with a cousin in Grand Rapids. The call waiting beeped three times. It was so obvious someone was hard pressed to get me on the phone. When I didn’t answer those beeps, my cell phone began to ring. When I looked at the caller ID, sure enough, it was our Kendra worrying about her parents again. I brought my cell phone to Ken and he took the warning from Kendra. Kendra will be reading this and will not be sure how to take our reaction to her calls. I must say, it feels kind of good to have kids looking out for us when for over forty years; we have been looking out for the good of our kids. So, don’t be dismayed Kendra…..you just keep taking care of us. (Kendra knows that our cable goes out over ten drops of rain so she is concerned we won’t get duly warned when and if there is real danger)

I was in bed shortly after Kendra’s call on Monday night. The phone rang again and when I lifted the receiver I heard Ken speaking with a male voice. I thought, “Oh my, things must really be bad because Kendra has her husband calling us”, I heard the male caller say, “Yes, my radar says there is a cell directly over De Motte”. When my senses returned, I realized the male caller was our son, John, our Michigan kid. My face broke out in a huge smile. More than one of our kids was taking care of us.

The outcome of the night was a whole lot of water, but north of us about twenty miles there was some very destructive weather. Many homes and businesses had serious damage. I saw a headline this morning in the grocery store that said, “F-2 Tornado”. Not sure what that means but I suppose I will read that article sometime today.

We spent last evening with my dad and Mary, again. Mary asked my dad how much rain he had in the gauge. He told her and she said, “I’ve been wondering ever since it rained…..I heard for days on end about how badly we needed the rain and then when it rains you don’t tell me how much we got”. My dad smiled and said, “Well, Mary, I thanked the Lord right after the rain, you heard me do so”. She said in her own dry way, “You told the Lord but you forgot to tell me.” I thought I’d die laughing. Visiting those two is always good for a few laughs. They are such entertainment. (The men won both games of pinochle last night so their egos were stroked again)