MARIA CURREY | CONTRIBUTOR

When the skies begin to rumble and dark clouds tumble, folks in the South know they should either take cover or get ready to jump in big puddles! There is nothing quite like God’s glory roaring from thunderclouds. Deluges from the sky bring beautifully abundant garden beds filled with new life exploding with color. As rainwater replenishes gardens, we see the whole garden grow and each drop of rain is needed to bring forth the harvest. So it is with the Body of Christ. As we drink in Christ’s living water, it soaks into our hearts and replenishes us with His soul quenching love.

Drop by Drop

Over the course of a fruitful season in the Word, I had the privilege to watch one woman water the seeds of faith in two precious beloveds, drop by drop of kindness, care, attentiveness, and love. They both came to our weekly Bible study, having been uprooted from what they knew before. One, a recent immigrant from a country overrun by economic turmoil, she and her family came to find a more sustainable life. Another, a single mother, raised in rich spiritual soil, nonetheless experienced heartache and hardship along her path. Both were nurtured under the inviting shepherd-hearted leadership of a woman who understands what it means to provide a constant overflow of encouragement, lovingkindness, accountability, and reinforcement to remain deeply rooted to the taproot of Jesus love. Their hearts reflect connections which are constantly renewed while walking a relationally driven and Word-based lifeline together.

The source of the leader’s strength, energy, and stream of beautiful encouragement comes from her own personal life of abiding in Christ. She is one who sits with Jesus, meditates on, learns and grows from God’s Word, and seeks to walk in ways that are winsome to the watching world. She is one who epitomizes Psalm 92:12-15:

“The righteous flourish like the palm tree and grow like a cedar in Lebanon. They are planted in the house of the Lord; they flourish in the courts of our God. They still bear fruit in old age; they are ever full of sap and green, to declare that the Lord is upright; he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him.”

Daily Diet

Wise in her years and strong in mind and body, she met these two ladies through an exercise class she teaches at a local gym. She is involved in the community with eyes attentive for those who are thirsty for God’s love and His truth. She not only promotes strength through good sweat and cardio wellness, but she also extends the eternal hope and health of Jesus Christ, inviting these women to attend Bible study and to be part of the life of our church. She offered a steady diet of spiritual nutrition which nurtured these beloveds’ hearts, minds, and souls. Gatherings in her home offered opportunities to grow close in relationships, to know each other’s stories, to link hearts and hands and to be stretcher-bearers for their needs and burdens.

Divine Delights

Each year, at the end of our year studying through different books of the Bible, we share a Celebration Day, rejoicing in God’s fruit born through personal testimonies.

These two ladies shared powerfully of God’s work in their lives. While journeying through the book of Isaiah, they spoke of the ways God grew them: of God’s deliverances from loneliness, of God’s divine interruptions giving them deeper understanding of His care for every detail in their lives, of God’s protection through family trials, accidents, and health scares. There weren’t pretty bows tied onto life situations wrapped in simplicity and ease. They shared of hard-scape life circumstances into which God watered and grew new life and new growth between cracks and fissures that seemed lifeless.

The watering of one woman who had choices with how she would spend and share the love of Jesus from within her heart, mind, and soul. Her choice was to intentionally pour Jesus’ life-giving water into precious souls—souls which might have otherwise gone unnoticed, unwatered, and unattended.

Who are the women in your life who are watching and waiting—sapped and not realizing or understanding their soul-thirst—and for whom you have the privilege to extend Christ’s cup of spirit-quenching refreshment? Precious wondrous drop by drop!

Photo by Meredith Spencer on Unsplash