rain :: storm

quiet nights are hard to come by here.

it's now been several nights in a row where jude has slept all the way through the night without waking up {thank you Jesus}.

but the other night i woke up to

nothing.

no dogs barking.

no african clubbing music.

no random djembe drummers.

no loud cawing birds.

no honking.

no sirens.

just a few crickets.

and then it started to rain.

have i mentioned how much i love the sound of the rain here?

no?

well, it's amazing.

incredibly soothing.

and lovely. 

probably one of my favourite nighttime sounds.

{another one being the sound of cars driving along at night on empty roads. it reminds me of home. 

total city girl right here.}

i decided to thank God for this sweet middle-of-the-night blessing.

just for me.

look for the every day blessings.

they are there.

alongside the challenges and hardships, they are there.

you just have to look.

************

and then there was last night.
raging, fierce, thundering, lightening, sheets of rain poured down.
angry, harsh, powerful rain.
not the steady, sweet sound of a light rain that happened a few nights ago.
no, this was pure power.
He was there in that powerful, fiercesome storm.
but just like elijah, i didn't hear His voice in it.
but i knew He was there.
sustaining us.
protecting us.
my heart broke as i lay there listening to the rain go on and on.
i was thinking of all the ghettos i've seen here in kampala.
children and their parents live in those ghettos.
i'm sure their roofs leaked.
i'm sure they were cold.
did they tremble in fear because of how exposed they felt in the storm?

there are blessings in my life, but even here, in this life that is so different from what i'm used to, i have it so much better than most others in this city.
what are their blessings?
what do they look like?
is their faith stronger than mine?
surely it must be.