However, I must admit I was excited this week when I looked at the weather forecast and noted the predicted rain, there is something special about the first good soaking rain after summer.

The air takes on a unique scent as the moisture content rises, the wind begins to still and the horizon slowly darkens. You just know that we are in for a decent rain. 

I’m so keen to see our poor lawn suddenly come back to life and to look out at the rolling hills beyond our back fence and see more than three different tones of brown.

It is more than just relief from the dry hot summer, there is also a freshness that comes into our environment. Life returning to dry places.

Have you ever noticed some people have a similar effect on our soul as that first decent rain has on our environment? They bring a freshness and a renewed vitality. 

The bible encourages us that the person who brings refreshment to others will themselves be refreshed. It’s a great thought, but doesn’t always comes instinctively.

It’s so easy to get caught up in what I need, what I want to achieve and what I am feeling that I forget to slow down and truly consider others, let alone refresh them.

As part of my job I work for an organisation that fights human trafficking and the exploitation of children. It’s important that the church is at the forefront in creating change in the big issues facing our world today.

But it’s just as important to remember to slow down and bring refreshing joy, hope and peace to those living right here beside us in Bathurst.

What could it look like today if we chose to be a people who bring refreshment to others, it can be as simple as listening to a friend, being present for our children, smiling at the shop assistant or offering a hand to a neighbour. Whatever it takes let’s be a community that brings refreshment.