God’s Goodness in el Río

The waters of the river gladden the city of God, the holy dwelling of the Most High. // Psalm 46:5

When it rained you could smell the moss from the nearby río (Spanish for “river”), the toads croaking, and the fresh wood that had just been cut, along with the odor of horse poop. It was the mixture of smells that awakened my senses as a child to another dimension. The pitter-patter of the rain falling into the río was my favorite sound. I became mesmerized by it. Where was the water going down the río? What adventures did the water have to tell? 

My mom’s hometown of Magdalena, Sonora Mexico, was a welcome change of pace for this inner-city girl. 

I didn’t have this kind of access to the sights and sounds nature had to offer in Las Vegas, Nevada, so when we visited family in Mexico it made up for my neon-lights, concrete-jungle, twenty-four-hour city that never sleeps. 

I felt like I was in a children's book because the río was the uninhibited playground my cousins and I would play in. 

We would splash, skip rocks, and run in the río. The rocks under the water were not the softest landing place for little feet, but I didn’t care (crocs weren’t a thing yet). I was inside a page from a book and I was free. 

The Psalm (see Psalm 46) for today reminds me of how Jesus used water in His teachings to demonstrate the goodness of God: “Let anyone who thirsts come to me and drink” (John 7:37), and “whoever drinks the water I shall give will never thirst; the water I shall give will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life” (John 4:14). 

The río was more than just a natural stream of flowing water to me; it pointed toward God’s goodness. God doesn’t operate out of scarcity. He is a God of abundance, and that río witnessed that to me. 

Sister, do you have a memory about a río, lake, or another body of water that has witnessed to you the goodness of God? Let’s offer up our praise for these gifts.