The Smell of Rain:

I had been traveling for two years now. My exploration of a juvenile lifestyle has had its bittersweet moments. There were days when I could find no insects to eat, and other days when the thick lush forests were filled with the lullabies of fat insects. There were days where sandy deserts lay miles ahead of me, and others where I was protected and shielded from the sun by the green bushes.

But I can smell it now. I can smell the abundance of rain. I can feel the onset of moistness and tenderness. I am a red-spotted newt. Notophthalmus viridescens. I have spent many years as a juvenile living on land, but all things must come to an end, and it is time for adulthood...I have to find water. Life as a newt could be fun, but I have grown to understand the wisdom of change. My larval stage was aquatic, my juvenile stage was terrestrial, and now my adulthood has to be experienced as an aquatic animal once again. That is why I smell rain ahead...fresh water. I can almost taste the freshness.

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I learned of the red-spotted newt in the moments my imagination flew concerning the smell of rain. Yes, creatures like this still exist. They spend their baby (larval) stages in water, migrate to land for some years, and then migrate back to water as an adult. It is a part of their life. They learn to walk in the direction of water. They learn to fight obstacles on their way, using their tails for protection and their eyes for sight. Until they find their treasure...a water body for the rest of their lives.
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As human beings, we were also created to smell the abundance of rain. Do you know that you can tell that it will rain by putting your head outside the window and smelling the aroma of torrents blowing? The smell of the abundance of rain can be found in the freshness of the breeze. In the solitary confines of green leaves coasting with the wind on an empty street, or even as you watch tall trees sway from side to side. You can tell when the rain is coming.
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In the same way, your spiritual senses must be able to smell the abundance of rain. But especially without seeing the rain first. That's faith! In the past one year, I have learned to smell the rain without first seeing it. I have learned to lean on the invisible everlasting arm of God, and to trust that He will send me my rain. And He has sent rain. He sent rain and gave my lips several testimonies. But there was dry land awaiting me ahead of the rain again. That's how life is. An intermingling of series of dry land and aquatic territories. The dry land is for training, and the aquatic for blessings. But all you need to do is stick your head out of your window and smell the rain coming...it IS coming. Don't doubt it!

"Then Elijah said to Ahab, “Go up, eat and drink; for there is the sound of abundance of rain.”
(I Kings 18:41)

Photos by Photobucket & Wing Watchers