Praying for Moisture

The year before I left for BYU, I remember attending graduation parties in Ohio, trekking through lawns that were saturated, grass sticking to my flip-flop-clad feet.

"Once I go to Utah, I will never had to walk through wet grass again!" I declared. "Utah is a desert. They are in a drought. I will never see rain or wet again."

I mean, look at this map! The really, really wet parts are at the top of mountains. Utahns pray for moisture all. the. time. And they are grateful for the rain! Because water is such a precious resource, I heard before I moved here that they stipulate when you can water your lawn, and how long your showers can be!

Anyway, I was convinced that Utah was a desert and I'd never see another cloudy day. Turns out, I was wrong. Also turns out, that the drought ended that year. (I might take some of the credit for that.)

I remember it raining so much that fall. I would have to walk to campus and would be soaked before finding a chair in my classroom, and then I would shiver during the whole of class as I dried off.

People would get up at church and either thank God for the moisture, or pray for more! Can you believe that? Why would you pray for rainy days?? I happened to like the blue skies, bright sun and DRY weather. And in the WINTER! Why would you pray for snow??? Ugh, I hated that. Sometimes I refused to say "AMEN" at the end of the prayer.

I don't think we've had people praying for moisture much anymore. It feels like it has been a very wet couple of years.

Especially this year. I've lived in Provo for seven years and I have not experienced the amount of moisture, thunderstorms and humidity as we have this year! It's like living in Ohio, with mountains. It's sort of crazy. I will admit, though, that I don't much mind walking through the wet grass. And I really do love thunderstorms.

The past two days have brought two pretty awesome thunderstorms right at the end of the afternoon. The streets will flood... and then a few hours later, there is hardly any evidence of the storm at all. Oh, except the debris blown into the pool. And the cooler weather. Whenever it rains, it feels like the temperature drops about 20 degrees.

The sidewalks had to supplement the canals. The water was just pouring down the street, it was crazy.

I guess I can't really complain that Utah isn't green this year. And I guess this could be a testament that God answers prayers.