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Monday, February 23, 2015

The Rain in Spain



When Professor Henry Higgins trains Eliza Doolittle to be a sophisticated duchess, he has her repeat, “The rain in Spain falls mainly in the plain.”* It might make a nice song, but it’s far from the truth! The rain in Spain really falls on the northern fringe of Spain bordering the Atlantic Ocean. That means we have green grass all year long. But, it also means it can rain more than 300 days a year! It's raining again, today. 

When we arrived in the '80s, it took some getting used to. There are still times when it rains every single day for weeks on end. I’ll be honest: it dampens one’s morale. (Forgive the pun, but sometimes I can’t resist!) My husband and I, on at least two occasions, have actually gotten in the car and driven to another province, just to see sunshine for a day.


Some years ago, we were in the U.S. visiting my parents. The South was experiencing a drought, and my parents both asked us to pray that God would send rain. I couldn’t! I didn’t want to pray against my parents, but I was thoroughly being blessed by day after day of sunny skies. (Was I bad?)

Our son and his family live in Puerto Rico. They see the sun almost every single day. Palm trees, flowers, tropical plants . . . . Don’t think we haven’t been tempted!

Why am I telling you this? Because missionaries are human beings. (Surprise!) We have to fight very normal tendencies to feel down when it rains and rains and rains. We don’t exactly enjoy wet feet and slogging around, walking and driving in rain, day after day after day.

I even painted the walls of our downstairs yellow, so there’d be “sunshine” inside when everything outside is gray.

We’re well aware our focus is supposed to be on our blessings and on positive things and not on the lousy weather. (Philippians 4:8) We are truly grateful for God’s goodness to us. We can heartily say with the Psalmist David, I will praise thee, O LORD, with my whole heart; I will show forth all thy marvelous works (Psalm 9:1).

We’re even aware that God sends the weather He wants where and when and as much as He wills. Who (God) giveth rain upon the earth, and sendeth waters upon the fields (Job 5:10).

It really is okay.


When the sun finally peeks out from behind the clouds, there is nowhere prettier than the Basque Country! Green, green hills dip down onto beautiful beaches.

We love where the Lord led us to serve Him—especially when the sun shines!




* My Fair Lady. 
   
All the photos were taken by me, in our beloved Basque Country.

10 comments:

  1. I love your post! We are in the rainy part of France, as well. We have gotten very adept at going out "inbetween drops," as the French say. Your post made me smile! Thanks for sharing!

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    1. Is it raining there? Hope you could get out "between the drops" if you needed to! Thank you, Susan. God bless.

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  2. I enjoyed this window into your world. I had no idea it rained so much there. I would have a hard time keeping a "sunny" mood in such a case, too, and would probably find myself visiting those sunnier climes when possible as well. Another missionary friend in Alaska has mentioned how hard it is when the sun shines only 4 hours a day in the winter. I can't imagine - or don't want to. I'm glad to know that we can pray even for these things and our human responses to them and trust God for grace to deal with them.

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    1. The lack of sunshine also affects vitamin D levels and sleep patterns. It really took some getting used to--and still does, sometimes. But God is good, even when it rains! Thank you, Barbara!

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  3. I visited Spain 13 years ago (while I was in college), and I remember lots of rain while we were there. Rain or no rain, the Basque Country was my favorite part of the country. After college, I lived in Puerto Rico for 6 years. During the rainy season there, we often went weeks on end with rain every day. Sometimes I was happy about the rain because it cooled the air, but after awhile, rain every day gets old! Loved your idea of painting the downstairs yellow. Thanks for sharing your struggles and how you deal with them-it's always a blessing to me!

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    1. I'm glad you got to visit both Spain and Puerto Rico! It's so wonderful to get that world-wide perspective. Thank you, Sarah, for your thoughtful comment. God bless you.

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  4. I came with the BJU team in 2002-I remember your family being a blessing to me. Hoping/planning to come back to Spain someday (especially now that I can speak the language =) )

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    1. Wow! 2002! I'm trying to remember which team that was--with the Paddocks or with the Casillases? Glad you can speak Spanish now. A blessing to hear from you. God bless!

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    2. It was with the Paddocks-their last trip, I think. And Dr. Casillas' first trip, the summer their twins were born. I'll see if I can dig up some pictures later this week to send you. I know I have at least one of your whole family.

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    3. Fun! If you send pics, please send them through my e-mail (contact info. in "About Me" above) or friend me on Facebook. It will be fun!

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