Storms

We had a severe storm the other day that was one of the worst I've seen in a long while. Our weather radio had been going off all afternoon, but the warnings were for areas east of us, so I thought we were in the clear. I was talking on the cordless phone and bouncing Carter in my arms, trying to keep him occupied, as the weather radio continued to beep for what seemed like the hundredth time. The caller was a prospective teacher who was interviewing to take my position, so I quickly hit the alarm to turn it off and continued my conversation. I heard thunder in the distance, but had no idea of the ominous dark cloud that was slowly creeping over our neighborhood.

It wasn't long before the thunder became so loud and frequent that I was having trouble hearing the person on the phone. Then all of a sudden, there was a huge cracking sound, an instant boom, a quick blink of the lights, and the phone line went dead. Evidently the lightening had struck and traveled through our phone line because I felt a brief shock that ran into my ear and down my body. My ear was ringing, but other than that, everything seemed okay. Carter was pleasantly looking around the room as if nothing had happened.

Now that my phone conversation had been halted, I began walking around the house and looking out each window. The lightening was frequent and it seemed like it was zapping all around us, but that wasn't as troubling as the sound of the wind and hail pounding our house. Being from tornado country, I was very disturbed by the way the wind would gust in one direction, blowing the trees near the ground, then blowing with the same furry in the opposite direction. The dime sized hail looked as if it were coming down in sheets. The sound was deafening.

The intensity of the storm began to worry me as I witnessed tree branches floating down our street, so I took Carter to our "storm safety" room, which happens to be a hall bathroom in the center of our house. The storm seemed to last an eternity as I sat there and rocked Carter. As anxious as I felt, and with the violence of the storm swirling around us, it amazed me that Carter was perfectly relaxed, dozing in my arms.

As the wind and hail began to calm down a bit, I heard a dripping sound coming from the kitchen area. I assumed that the worst of the storm had passed, so I ventured out to find the source. I looked above our kitchen table and there was a line of water steadily coming from the ceiling. With Carter still dozing in my arms, I pulled out the biggest pots I could find and lined them up along the kitchen table. Water was even dripping through the light fixture.

Needless to say, this was one of the worst storms I had experienced in a long time. Once the television was up and running again, I flipped it on to see the radar picture of what had just hit us. The color on the radar was not red, which would indicate a severe storm. It was purple, meaning it was intensely severe (which I already knew). Besides the water damage, our phone and internet services were out for several days. A couple of our neighbors lost big trees and I witnessed several roofing guys out repairing roofing damages. I'm thankful that there were no major damages or injuries.

It later occurred to me that during the entire experience of the raging storm all around us, Carter never seemed disturbed or upset by the loud noises, or the fact that his mom was frantically pacing back and forth around the house. He was so relaxed that he drifted off to sleep! God used his example as an object lesson for me.

I pictured myself resting in the arms of God as the storms of life swirled all around me. It occurred to me that God desires that I trust in Him and give over my worries (big and small) to Him, and in turn, He will give me peace of mind during the tough times in life.

1Peter 5:6-7 says, "Therefore, humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you."