Catherine's Cafe Vocation Blog

It's raining again today!  We are well over our average for this month and it's only half-over! Groan. However, I must tell you I live in a rain forest so rain is part of our life, but when the rainfall goes over the usual amount it causes us all to groan. We expect rain but we don't let it stop us from doing things. We have parades in the rain, children go out for recess in the rain, soccer and baseball games go on when it rains. We know which vegetables and flowers to plant and which ones will rot.  We adjust to what we cannot change and we make the best of what we have. But because of the rain and also the darkness of winter the people of Juneau have created a great sense of community.  More activities happen indoors and neighbors know each other better and look out for one another, especially when a need arises. With only 30 days of sunshine a year we could be a grumpy people and complainers. Instead, we truly rejoice when we have one of those rare sunny ...

We all experience difficult times and traumatic moments--it's part of our life on earth.  With God's grace we accept these times and find inner strength to cope with them. So when we receive an unexpected gift, our hearts fill with delight and we hopefully savor the gift. I live in a temperate rain forest.  This means we have a good deal of rain and very few truly sunny days.  In April we had a total of 10 inches of rain, but last month we were the recipients of a special gift--warmth and sunshine!  Rainfall total was only half an inch, and the sun shone almost every day.   What do you do with such a gift?  I had to find a pair of sunglasses, and then ate outside as often as I could. Children were able to go swimming in the lakes, families could go on hikes without packing boots.  Everyone was in good spirits. We know this special gift will come to an end--after all, this is  a rain forest.  But this has been a reminder to u...