Here comes the rain

Okay, okay, now I may complain about how hot it is in Arizona, but one thing I absolutely LOVE about Arizona is our monsoon season. Last night as I was making dinner, the music cut off and the Emergency Broadcast System came on indicating that our county was under a severe thunderstorm watch. I glanced out the kitchen window and the sky to the east was pitch black and to the west I saw a dust "wall". No seriously, we get those here. Take a look...

 

About 10 minutes later, it hit the area where I was. The dust was blowing really badly and then heaven opened up and released the rain. And it rained, and rained. Not just a drizzle. It rained so hard and so much that a good portion of the streets in Mesa are flooded. Ah, I LOVE the rain. Not only does the rain cleanse everything, it dropped our temperature about 30 degrees in a matter of minutes. We went from 105 to about 70 in no time flat. That is nice, real nice.

Anyways, hmm...what's new in my world? I'm pretty boring person. I have one more house-sitting job after I get done with this one, then I'm done for the summer and I can sleep in my own bed. Oh I simply can not wait. I've already been booked for next summer. I accepted the job, but not sure if I am even going to be here next summer. Since my house-sitting jobs are almost done for the summer, the first weekend in August, I am heading out to Cali and J is possibly coming with me. I can't wait to see my niece and the baby.

School starts in about a month, oh joy. I looked up my needed books for my one class, $200 will be needed. Why is school so expensive? One class is costing about $600 for the semester. It's annoying. I seriously think about quitting, but all the money I have in student loans, I need some sort of degree in something. I did stop getting student loans and I am paying for the class and the books out of my wittle, bitty pocket. Let's see one of my goals this year was to get financially stable, and although I'm not 100% there, I'm in a way better position than I was in January. My little bit of credit card debt is almost paid off, and it feels good. Credit cards are not my friend, but I guess it would help to have one for emergencies. I’ve done without one for a few years now, but it would help to have one. Maybe eventually. I just wish I was financially stable, not constantly living paycheck to paycheck. It seems like I have always done that. And I hate it, I know it’s nobody’s fault but my own, but I just wish I could get a break. I really wanted to get Yankees tickets when they play in California this year, but I can’t find any cheap tickets and can’t afford to get the crazy expensive tickets. I need to find someone who has an “in”. Or maybe I just need to find me a sugar-daddy to take care of me. Yeah, that sounds like a plan.

I’m teaching in Children’s Ministry this weekend, I’ve been out of the teaching aspect for so long, I’m actually a tad nervous about teaching. And it’s for the preschoolers, so their attention span is not very big. Good thing it’s a short lesson. Next week is Vacation Bible School at church. I look forward to that every year. I was in the 4 years olds class, but got moved into a supervisor position; I did that last year, so it should be cool. Besides I’m still supervising the Preschoolers, and they are so fun, especially for VBS. Although I’m back at Central, back into the full swing of things with serving, I still feel as though something is missing and I’m not quite sure what it is…I just feel like I need to be doing more. I am missing mission trips; I hope to go on one next summer.

Anyways, I should go and start work. Have a great day and a fantastic weekend.

Quote of the day: “Don’t ask yourself what the world needs; ask yourself what makes you come alive. And then go and do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.” Harold Whitman

The rain

Ah, I love the rain. It's not something Arizona sees a lot of, so when it does come, it's such a blessing. It rained pretty much all day yesterday. I was sitting in my office and I got the urge to go outside and just stand in the rain. Now granted, since it was a little chilly, I opted not to, not knowing if my immune system could take it. I put my head up against the window and stared at the rain for a few minutes. I love to sometimes just go out and stand in the rain, letting it wash over me. I really feel God's presence when I do that. I love how it just makes everything new and clean. Everyday I'm awed by God, I see Him in so many things, so many people. It's funny how the littlest thing I see will remind me of how Jesus died for our sins or I need to be stronger in my faith. There is this secular from FlyLeaf called "All Around Me", part of the chorus goes, "I can feel you all around me, thickening the air I breathe." Now, this song probably means something else, but every time I hear that song, it reminds me of God. Not thickening the air I breathe in a bad way, but in a good way.

Unfortunately, as much as I love the rain, it does have a bad side to it. When Lisa and I came home last night, I was the first to notice this....

See that? That is a very big bubble filled with water (oh yes, I felt the water in there) creeping down our wall in the apartment. Yes, in our apartment. See all the lose paint? Oh yes, maintenance definitely got called. They should be here today. When I first saw this, it was only about a foot down the wall, the water bubble was HUGE! As the night went on, I began to think about taking pictures, because you never know when they might come in handy. It was creeping down the wall, the water bubble was getting smaller.

This morning when I got up, the water is gone, but this had creeped all the way down to the electrical outlet. Yes, we unplugged and moved anything electric. It's a good thing I did, we could of had something really bad happen. Because this is on a tall wall, I'm willing to bet it's over 6 feet long. Lovely.

People sometimes question why I love the people that I do. Some of these people in my life that I love, aren't fond of other people that I love. I'll admit, although I try not to be, I can be judgemental. *Gasp* It's a human quality that we all possess and everyone does it. God is always quick to put me in my place when I'm judging someone. He's quick to make me see my own flaws, yet I'm surrounded by people who love me, all of me. The bad stuff included. God reminds me of that so much. So, why not love someone with all you have, including the good and the bad? Remember the only person who was perfect was Jesus. And although you may think you're perfect, sadly you're not. Now, people will also question why there are people in my life I don't love. Ah, yes, another imperfection of mine. I used to be really quick about "writing someone out of my life." Although, I am still guilty of it, I don't do it nearly as much as I used to. I know it's not a quality that I should possess, I get that. I have mended many relationships that I've ruined in my life, however some of the relationships can not be mended, I don't know if they ever will. The people who know me, know about the people I can't love and they understand why. God has still got a lot of work to do with me. Sometimes, I even began to question why I do love some people in my life. Sometimes, they can make me so upset, but....I am learning to love the good and the bad in everyone, as difficult as it may be.

Have a great day!

Brandy

Quote of the day: "Love one another and you will be happy. It's as simple and as difficult as that." ~Michael Leunig