April Showers....

 ...brought a lot of crabby spirits....

a lot of puddles...

a lot of cold days....

a lot of weeds...

I couldn't sit out on deck in morning with my coffee and my Bible.

 I couldn't put out the cushions for the deck furniture.

 I couldn't sit through a baseball or softball game without

a hat, mittens, scarf, wool socks, blankets, and hand-warmers.

We were close to breaking records with the amount of cold and rain.

When sun finally came out on April 23rd, we had "enjoyed" a record of 

56 straight days without an official sunny day.

Then

the

April showers

finally brought the cliched

May Flowers.

I can't remember the name of this plant,

but it is finally starting to creep down over the edges of the rock garden.

To some these are weeds,

but they look wonderful along the edge of my driveway.

I think this is a weed, too. 

It just started growing and was pretty, so I kept it.

I know this is a bleeding heart.

It was one of the first things I planted when we bought the house,

because my Gramma Geneva always had one by her door.

I brought this old milk can from North Dakota,

and planted this purple thing in it.

Gardening in the PNW has been a challenge,

because all the plants and weeds are different than what I grew up with.

I'm never sure what I planted and what should be pulled.

But, as I walked around my garden today,

taking pictures of the plants I can't remember the names of,

I knew all the rain wasn't without purpose.

Trials are like rain.

They're inevitable

and necessary.

Someday they'll bloom into something beautiful

in the garden of our lives,

after we endure the storms.

And when the rains continue to pour down,

and there seems to be no sun on the horizon,

lift your face to the skies by faith.

We know,

April Showers

always bring

May Flowers,

because the

Son

will shine.