Rainy Mornings

The other morning I woke to the sound of a driving rain coming down. I made a batch of coffee and headed for our porch swing. Why can't every morning be like this, was one of my earliest thoughts that morning as I recall. What a peaceful time I had for awhile - just me, God, my mug of Royal Cup Coffee, (thanks Erin) and the beautiful rain steadily falling from the heavens above. Peace,(true peace)doesn't come in any purer shade than this - my heart believes to be true.

After awhile I began to think back to a morning similar, yet so different in many ways. It's a day I haven't had the first thought of in many a year. I guess it was the smell and the sound of the rain that reminded me.... That Saturday morning, almost thirty years ago, (which is hard to believe) it rained that morning too, a steady flow so similar to the one I was witnessing just the other day. At the time I was living in Franklin Tennessee. Franklin is a beautiful little town, or was back then anyway. It was still quite small and quaint back in the early eighties, not so much this days. Still a wonderful town I'm sure, just too much growth for my taste-buds though. You ever stop and wonder, does the world really need one more Walmart? I don't think so, but they're building another thousand or so again this year – so go figure! Franklin now is just another town over ran with banks, food establishments, retail stores, four lanes of traffic and far too many red lights. Where's the beauty in any of that? Convenience yeah, beauty – not so much!  As usual, I'm off track again! 

Let's get back to my memory of another rainy morning though. That Saturday I got up especially early. Very early. Well before the sun was suppose to rise in the east, I stumbled around the house gathering up and putting on socks, pants, shirts, shoes and oh yeah, underwear. I quietly loaded up a cooler of drinks, my rain-suit and my trusty old lunchbox chocked full of food and headed out the door. In the pitch dark hours of early morn I drove away in my pick up with my bass boat in tow. Typically, I never get in too big of a hurry to hit the waters. I figure the fish will still be there whenever I get there, but this morning was different. I had heard tales, (believable fishing tales) about a place where the fishing had been exceptionally good of late, a place called Mousetail State Park.  I couldn't wait any longer - I was heading that way.

Though it was only a few hours from Franklin,and I had mapped it out the night before, it was still dark, and I was still half asleep. Stopping for a piping hot cup of Seven-Eleven coffee and a couple of two day old doughnuts was the first priority on this trip and now ready, I drove off into the darkness of several county roads.  I went where the map took me, or at least I thought I did. The problem I had to face up to though was this, I was nowhere near my destination. A couple of hours turned into four, and it would've been many more had it not been for a stop at a small little eatin' place and the wisdom of an old-timer which finally led me to the barely visible brown wooden state park sign saying Welcome to Mousetail.

Bout the time I got there, it began to rain. A rain very similar to the one I was enjoying here in central Alabama this week. A driving downpour - steady and smooth as the workings of a watch.- Just my luck I thought. Four hours, and a half tank of gas to get there and now a rain storm that looked as if it had set in on that part of the Tennessee River. Lightening and thunder joined the  pounding rain on the roof of the truck, and before I knew it the sounds took on the flow of a beautiful piece of music played by an heavenly orchestra. I nodded and dosed a time or two and by eight-thirty in the morning I was slumbering away in my pick up truck.

Finally I found the wherewithal to rise to the occasion, as I began doing what any abnormal person in my situation would do. I opened up the ol' lunch box and began eating what was supposed to be my lunch for the day. There's nothing better than a couple of potted meat sandwiches and sack full of potato chips for breakfast to get the ol' energy level back up, despite what all those cereal companies tell us about the nutritional value of their product.  I ate it all!

Truthfully, nothing makes me more hungry than a good ol' rain storm. Some folk like to sleep, some like to read, I simply like to eat when it's raining, it's just the way God made me. (hee,hee) I get especially hungry when it rains kinda like I do when it's not raining. Okay, rain or shine I like to eat – there you have it, Doug's "big confession" of the day. Whew, I'm glad I got that out of my system, now maybe I can eat once again without all that guilt stuff getting in the way.....

Anyway, finally, nearly an hour and a half later the rain began to let up. Just a sliver of sunlight peeked through the cloud cover, but it gave me hope, and that was all I was looking for. I got out in the drizzle and started to prepare the fishing gear. The rain continued, but I wouldn't be deterred. I was fishing this day, rain or no rain, I've come too far not to. Besides I was out of food, so what else was there to do. The lightening stopped, and for me that was as good as it was going to get – sure enough a sign from God that he wanted me to hit the water, and I did.

With my rain gear on I launched my boat, parked my truck, and left behind an empty lunchbox, as I headed onto these unknown waters in search of the big one. With the rain still coming down, and me not knowing what dangers lay just beneath the river's surface, such as trees and logs or what-not, I decided to play it safe and stay close to the main cove of the park. I headed down the first branch (or finger as they call it) that I came to, and even in the dim morning light I could see the potential fishing spots it held were plentiful. This looked like one of those areas that them big time TV fishermen always seem to just stumble onto (yeah, after days of pre-production scouting) as it looked absolutely perfect.

Trees downed all along the water's edge on both banks, from the mouth of the branch to the back shoreline and I quickly imagined hooking into a big ol bass hanging beneath every half-sunken tree I saw. I was trembling from anticipation and /or the cold drizzle as I tied on the best lure for the situation and started my attack. One tree, one fish – good start. Two trees, and three more fish – getting better. By the time I made my trip up and down both shorelines I had boated the largest and heaviest stringer of fish I have ever caught. Lurking beneath,or beside each tree was some of the most beautiful large mouth bass (each weighing a couple pounds or more) my eyes had ever seen. This truly was just like one of those TV shows. I was so excited half-way through fishing the branch I wanted to shout at the top of my lungs, but I didn't want to scare the fish, and I sure didn't want to attract any other fishermen, though I'm pretty sure I was the only NUT on the lake at that time.

Mousetail State Park, and this part of the Tennessee River had exceeded every expectation I had when I left the house some eight hours earlier. I could see myself fishing until night fall, catching a world record Lunker as my imagination went wild for awhile. Then the downpour and the lightening returned and within minutes my big ol' butt was out of the boat and backing the trailer down the ramp to reload. Wasn't even noon, yet I was exhausted from the fullness of the morning. Still shivering from the wet and the cold I headed home with a smile that reached from one side window to the next. This had been a great morning indeed, though I had fished less than two hours of it! I bragged about that trip for weeks on end to anyone that would listen, like any good fisherman would I reckon. To be right truthful, I kinda got sick of hearing about it myself.

So anyway, sitting in the porch swing the other morning, listening to the rain as those memories flew through my head I began to see the many lessons to be had from that rainy, fishy morning from decades gone by. I'm weird I suppose, but there are times when God shows me things in ways that I think only I can understand. I think He really has to work hard at simplifying things in order to teach someone like me, one that is so hard of learning. How he chose to use the rain from this morning to paint the backdrop of such lessons is far beyond my comprehension level.

You see, what began to flow through my pea-size brain along with the memory of that long ago fishing trip were these few tidbits of reasoning. I share them with you in hopes that you also can be reminded God works in many ways to bring us closer to knowing His truth - sometimes in the rain, sometimes in the sunshine, sometimes in a porch swing and even sometimes in a bass boat at a place called Mousetail. So here's what He showed me the other morning, yet I'm sure you guys are far more knowledgeable of these than I am.

1.Even when you think you know where your heading, you may have difficulty getting there. You may get lost, you may have to ask for help, you may not get there exactly when you think you should - but if God wants you there,( if this is where He's sending you), you'll wind up there at exactly the right time. Maps, GPS systems, directions from others - all a waste of time if your heading somewhere He's not leading you to.

2. It may seem at times in your life that the rain will simply never stop, but if you'll be patient - if you'll wait until He says GO, the window of opportunities He's prepared will open up just like the clouds in the sky on a rainy morning. At some point you'll see a sliver of sunshine and you'll know it's Him saying; Come on boy, put that lunchbox down, lets get with it.

3.What He may have in store for you will almost always exceed what you expect. You'll enter situations thinking one thing, yet pass through the opening at the other end knowing and believing in something so much greater. He truly is a God of wonder, never forget that!

4.Always be prepared by bringing your rain-gear along, even on the sunniest of days. You never know what you may be in for, you never know how your situation may change. This way you won't be so inclined to say; no God, not now, not while it's still raining. With rain-gear it's much easier to say, okay God, I'll go, I won't wait til the rain completely stops. Sometimes rain-gear may even take on the form of a well rehearsed verse or two of scripture stored away in your heart and mind, so at a moments notice you can offer it to someone in just the right situation, a situation where He has placed you. Again, be prepared, never hesitate because you just don't know what to say to someone in a certain situations (maybe your self) - keep His Word close by, like a good rain-suit.

5.When God chooses to pour out His glory recognize it for what it is, and where it comes from. Don't get too caught up with the notion of showing or telling others what you've done lately, yet rather acknowledge what God has done through you, for you. Tell others how wonderful your God is both when the sun is shining brightly, and then again especially on those rainy mornings. doug