Its So Dry

"My soul clings to the dust; revive me according to Your word." Psalm 119:25

Its so dry here! We've had another week of hot dry weather after that blissfully cool break with a bit of rain & everything is back to dust. Dust on the cars, dust on the plants, dust in the house. Flowers are drying out & need reviving with a generous downpour from my watering can. Lawns are getting dry and need daily dousing with the sprinklers. Pets pant from the shade, wilting like a leaf. The dirt paths puff in light dust where I like to walk. Its dry! Its dusty. I guess its August then.

My blog has been a bit dry lately. I casually flip through my Bible searching for inspiration. Something that might go with one of my recent photos. When that doesn't work, I search through my photo archives & see if I can find a scripture or thought to go with one. When I come up dry with that, I go & read other blogs & just ignore my own. I don't want blogging to be work so I 'walk away' to read others that usually inspire me.

Its not just blog inspiration that runs dry. I'm not only aspiring to be a photographer but also a writer. I try to write travel articles for a small online travel site. Usually its easy & fun, writing about places I have been. Usually I can't say enough about them and usually, I have great photos to prove it. But even that inspiration is running a bit dry this week. Sort of a 'I can't be bothered to care' attitude when I sit down at my laptop & think I should churn out a couple more articles if I want the experience to eventually be published with the big boys of the freelance writer world. But no, I can easily find an excuse to do something else.

And *gasp* I haven't snapped a photo in over a week. *Really?? you all say in unison* Really! Nothing has inspired me. Dry there too. I keep thinking I'd like to learn more about people photography & bring my camera along everywhere I go but when I try to focus my lens on people, I find more of my shots are of the flowers or mountains behind them, of the texture of the tree I just walked past, of the cloud patterns. Anything but trying to visualize a nice composition with people in it. Maybe it requires more effort, maybe I just won't create a passion for it. But I AM going to try, I just have to not do it randomly and actually set up photo sessions for the friends that are going to be my willing targets...er, models.

So in all the dry areas of my life this week, I sought refuge from the dryness, the dust of the earth, the scorch of summer boredom & dove into my Psalms. Though the other areas of my life may be drying up, and I may not feel like doing some of those things, I can't be so lazy that I let my soul & spirit get dry. Where else can I be revived but in the word.

Verse 28 of chapter 119 says "My soul melts from heaviness (and also from the summertime blues) ; Strengthen me according to Your word." and again in vs 50 "This is my comfort in my affliction, for Your word has given me life." In fact, there are many many verses in Psalm 119 (remember, its the biggest one) that remind us that our help comes from God's word.

"Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path" vs 105