Amazon rain

A number of years ago I heard a song on the radio called He Reigns.  It talks about people all around the world worshipping God in all sorts of different environments.  I loved the idea that even though people's situations are different, they still praise the same God that I do.  My favorite line, though, was "it's the song of the forgiven, drowning out the Amazon rain."  Every time I heard that, it reminded me of being here, in Macas, in church services with the rain pouring down so hard on the metal roof, that you could hardly hear the preacher preach, but the singing, that you could hear. :)  I kept thinking, I've been there, I've done that!  It makes me want to experience the rest of the  song, praise God with my brothers and sisters in other parts of the world, too.  Then I think, that the song is also a bit of a foretaste of Heaven, where we'll worship God with people from every tribe and language.  I can't wait to talk to people from all over, from all different cultures and times, to ask what it's like where they're from, how did they learn about God, what was life like.

It was pouring here, earlier.  Macas is in a valley in the Andes' foothills and normally you can see all the mountains on either side, but when it really rains, the mountains disappear and all you can see is Macas.  This morning was hot and sunny, but a few hours after I got home from church, I started hearing rain.  I looked out the window and Quilamo (the closest hill/mountain) had disappeared and the  rain was coming down in sheets.  The streets were starting to turn to rivers, hiding the cobblestones and washing all the dust down the drains (either that or making mud).  I just sat and listened to the rain on the roof, there's nothing compared to the sound of the rain on the roof for relaxation, and watched the rain was the down clean.  After remembering the song, it brought back childhood memories of Oregon rain.  Whenever it would rain really hard, the living room window would turn to a waterfall and we'd bring out the legos and make Noah's Ark, joking that we were going to need it soon.  I realized that I need to soak these things in, I'm going to miss them next year!  Thankfully it rains a lot in Oregon, too. :)  And there's snow there!  I'm determined to enjoy and be content where I'm at, at least most of the time. :)