Rain Drops by Grace

God's Grace Through a Rainstorm

 

 

There are sometimes in our lives when we take time to give thanks to God simply for human life. We celebrate birthdays, holidays, major life milestones. I think most of us enjoy times when we gather with family and friends for those occasions that we have deemed a family occasion. With Christimas a New Years fresh in our minds, many of us are feeling refreshed from long meals and gift exchanges with loved ones. Some of us visited with family that we had not seen in a long time, that is often a treasured gift on it's own. Then there are times where we thank God for human life, becasue we have suffered loss, or have been given a glimpse of what could have been a possible tragedy.

 

 

I am feeling a little of all of these things. I enjoy Christmas time, and seeing my family. I was able to visit with my brother James, who lives away from home for work. There were the special events with the 26 neices and nephews crawling all over "Aunt Crabby".. Yesterday I lost my cousin Teresa, and today I almost lost several people that I love. I know that my thoughts will not be far from my own mortality for days as I ponder these events.

 

 

While I am a small town farm girl from the Northern Mid-West USA, and American by birth, I am also a Brazilian woman. I belong to the Carvalho family, by direction/adoption of the Holy Spirit. I want you to know this because the testimony that I am about to share needs to have the inclusion of a deep and abiding love that has been built over time, and for me includes not just other members of my church, but also includes members of my family, by that adoption.The church in Poá, São Paulo Brazil, sits on a hill that is rather steep, and it is a busy area with a fair amount of traffic at times. Carlos, my dear papai, lives across the street from the church, on the northern side of the street with his family. Today his son, and two other close loved ones were washing the car, and it began to rain. (it is scorching hot summer there right now)...They abandoned the cleaning project when heavy rains moved in. Moments later a crash was heard, and the back of the car was smashed in, and the car badly damaged, where my loved ones were working.. Essentially four lives could have been lost in those few seconds, as soon Carlos will be a grandfather. The hand brake had failed on another vehicle, and it went crashing into the back of the car.

 

I know that many people would say it was a coincedence, or that it was just good luck. I have no use for luck of any kind, as there are only 3 kinds, good luck, bad luck, and none at all ....the odds are just not in my favor. Grace and blessings though are one hundred percent assured. I know the power of rainstorms. I lost my home and most of my belongings to a rain storm. That was simply something that happened. God was there, as none of my family was hurt. This time, I have to give God thanks simply for grace. For whatever reason of what ever kind, my loved ones went in to get out of the rain at that very moment and were spared! I was once spared in the same way. I was supposed to ride somewhere with some friends, and my buddy Rodney insisted that I ride with my sister, even though at the time we fought constantly. His insistance saved my life, as I would not have survied the crash that followed.. the back seat where I would have been moments before was completly crushed. The three young people that were spared today have more work to do in this world. I had more work to do to.. They each have their talents and possibilites to yet unfold, and the grace of God has allowed for that to happen. Although I will never have concrete, undoubtable proof for the rest of the world, the testimony of my heart says that God has sent grace this day, in the form of rain drops.....