Tag Archives: Storm

I Don’t Need All The Answers

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I’m currently listening to Praise You In This Storm by Casting Crowns. It is playing on the Christian radio station that I listen to each day. My son works there, as an intern. Each morning he gets up while it is still dark, and treks off to the radio station for a couple of hours before he goes to school. It is neat hearing him on the radio, but even more so, the music and the message presented always helps me start the day with my mind and heart on Jesus.

This particular song always reminds me that God’s ways are not my ways. His thoughts are not mine. When things happen in life that leave me scared, confused, or hurting, I can choose to turn my back on Him or I can run to Him. The choice is always mine. Will I praise Him, regardless of the storms of life?

If I believe that God loves me, always has my best interest at heart, and will never leave me or forsake me….then shouldn’t I  dare to trust Him? Even when I can’t see through the downpour? When the thunder is pounding in my ears and the lightening blinds my view, will I reach out to Him even though I can’t see Him?

God doesn’t owe me an explanation for why things happen as they do. Who am I to sit in judgement of The Almighty? Why do I presume I know how my life is supposed to be, and He just needs to move aside? Oh, I’ve questioned God before. I’ve yelled at Him. In my pain and confusion I’ve lashed out at The One who chose to stay with me. The One who died in my place. The One who knew I needed Him, even before I knew who He was. Honestly, I don’t know why God allows some of the things He does. There are many things that happen in this life that I (nor you) will ever have the answer to on this side of Heaven. Even if God gave me the actual answers would I truly understand? Could I comprehend the hand of the great I AM? And would the answer really make the pain any less?  I have learned that I don’t have to have all the answers. I don’t need the answers, I just need HIM.

Deuteronomy 31:8, The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you.  “Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.”

Psalms 37:28, For the LORD loves the just and will not forsake his faithful ones. “They will be protected forever…”

Isaiah 42:16  “I will lead the blind by ways they have not known, along unfamiliar paths I will guide them; I will turn the darkness into light before them and make the rough places smooth. These are the things I will do; I will not forsake them.”

Hebrews 13:5  Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”

The Storms

Sometimes the storms of life come hard…

Storm Clouds in OKC 6/17/2006

The sky grows dark, the winds blow

And the rain pours down.

This past week I was caught in a severe storm.

Eighty mph straight line winds, hail, thunder, lightening, and rain.

Unbearable summer heat brings on the storms…

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When the storms of life fall hard

and the winds threaten,

I am thankful that Jesus never waivers

and He can calm the storm…

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Thankful for:

* no damage during the storm on Friday

* that we weren’t hurt in the storm

* rain

* yard sales

* good deals

* eating at a local Mexican restaurant

* “I love you” from the kids

* my husband’s arm wrapped around me

* kind acts

* early morning sunshine

* getting things checked off the to do list

* unexpected good news

* the harmony of wind chimes

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Trusting In The Midst

Category F5 tornado (upgraded from initial est...

I am a bonafide weather geek. No doubt about it. I have NOAA and The Weather Channel on my computer. I love watching Storm Stories and am fascinated by the Weather in Motion maps, so that I am able to track storms in real time. Weather is a tricky business, and it can change at the last second…sparing one area, devastating another. People think they can predict what will happen days in advance…but, it’s all just an educated guess, isn’t it?

I don’t trust the meteorologists. It’s nothing personal, it’s just that they are not God. They cannot know, not really.

Tomorrow the area of the Mid-West that I live in is in the “red zone” for severe weather, dangerous winds, possible tornadoes.

I can “batten down the hatches” at my house.  I can listen to the news. I can track the storms on my computer. I can try and be prepared, but I cannot trust that I alone can handle the storms that come my way. I can’t. I never could. Oh, I try, but, ultimately I am defenseless in the wake of the strong winds, crashing waves, and utter darkness of this life.

I do know someone that I can trust. Completely.

The One who can calm storms with the very sound of His voice. Sometimes He chooses to calm the storm and no one gets hurt. At other times the storms rage wild, life is torn to bits, people die. We ask the question that hangs heavy on the brokenhearted…..”God, where are You?”

He is there, in the midst. He never left. He never will.

Tragedy happens in this life. There are few of us that have never wept the tears of grief and pain. It is part of the human condition.

Storms do come. They will continue to come. I choose to cling to the Rock that holds steady through the strongest storms of this broken world.

Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High
   will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
 I will say of the LORD, “He is my refuge and my fortress,
   my God, in whom I trust.”  Psalm 91

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Prepare For The Worst, Hope For The Best

Hurricane Irene

Image by janthepea via Flickr

For the past several days all I’ve heard about is hurricane Irene. I have the track of the storm memorized. I’m watching for who is being forced to evacuate. Now, homeland security is even involved. Of course, I am a weather geek extraordinaire so all this talk doesn’t bother me. I’m sure all I will hear between now and Monday is the latest news on the fast approaching hurricane Irene. I will get to see reporters standing in 100+ mph winds, hanging on to telephone poles so as not to be blown down the street or blown out to sea. I will get glimpses of 20 foot waves crashing onto the shore and the reporters, in their bright yellow rain slickers, running for their lives.This sort of stuff is the life blood of a bonafide weather watcher. I’m telling you what, between the earthquake earlier this week and now the hurricane. Be still my heart!

What is the deal with people surfing in the choppy waters? Hello! Riptides, people! North Carolina life guards are pulling these nuts out of the water.  Some people really make me wonder….wonder if they are all together there, you know, mentally.

The news anchors make it sound like NYC is either going to be under water or caught in hurricane force winds so strong that they will bust out every window in the city. Not that the news media ever exaggerates anything. Just sayin’.

I am in Ohio, so I don’t have to prepare for the upcoming “end of days” hurricane. I do hope all my  east coast family and friends are hunkered down with supplies this weekend. Be safe…and for cryin’ out loud, don’t go stand outside when the storm hits, with a microphone in your hand.

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Driving Towards Home

 

Yesterday I drove the roughly 30 miles (one way) to get a John Deere mower part for my husband. Actually, I really love the drive. I get to drive down country roads, with hardly any traffic, and just enjoy the scenery. I brought my camera with me. I do not advocate snapping pictures while driving, but I literally had no one else around for the entire trip back home. Just me and the barns. And corn. And thunderstorm.

 

On the road again…..just can’t wait to get on the road again…..

This old barn looks lonely. It makes me kind of sad to see barns deteriorating. Sigh.

Pretty farm.

Love this picture. Barn in a sea of corn. I’m glad the Ohio farmers were finally able to plant their corn after all the torrential rain we had this past Spring.

Another barn and more corn. In the Midwest one sees a lot of barns and corn. It doesn’t get old for me.

Hard working, older barn.

I like this picture. The farm in the bend of the road. Notice the sky went from sunny to now getting a bit darker. Hmmm…….were we supposed to get rain?

This is a Methodist church…literally in the corner of the road. That is a sharp turn, too. I’d be scared to be sitting in the sanctuary of that church…if somebody doesn’t make that curve,  he/she (and their vehicle) might be joining the service that day.

I have to have a John Deere picture in here. After all this is the country.

Still snapping pictures….this is on the last road until my house. Um…..sky looking very ominous. I know this picture is blurry….I was driving a little faster–wanting to get home before the rain.

Uh oh. I’m not going to make it before the rain gets me. This doesn’t look good. The sky has turned VERY dark. Um…..I’m getting a little nervous now. Hmmmm…….

Ewwww…..angry, angry sky. (this is roughly 1:30 in the afternoon…when I left the house about an hour and a half before it was sunny and hot) If a tornado gets me, I hope my husband posts these last pictures that I have taken.

Shew. I made it home but, not before the storm hit. Full force. What was really creepy…..I saw the wind coming at me across the field. The corn was bowed over as the wind raced at me. SLAM. It hit the van and I had to hold the steering wheel tightly just to keep it on the road. Then the rain hit. I felt like I was in the rinse cycle of the washing machine. My windshield wipers could hardly keep up.

Thunder. Lightning. I sat in the van in the driveway for several minutes before I made a break for the house.

What a day.

I was glad to be home.

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Stormy Saturday

A wall cloud with tail cloud.

Image via Wikipedia

My alarm clock went off at 7am. I heard the thunder in the distance.

I listened. I heard it coming closer.

Then I heard the rain.

A nice sound, early in the morning.

After about an hour and a half, I decided it was safe enough to walk the dog.

There was a huge, dark, wall cloud at the front of the house. I could still hear thunder and see lightning in the distance.

I told Lonnie to hurry up.

He didn’t.

I was fascinated with the clouds. I am a storm watcher. I did not like being the tallest thing in the field, when I could see lightning…even if it wasn’t right near me. I didn’t want to take any chances, so I squatted down with the dog and reminded him again that he needed to get the show on the road so we could go back inside.

I took him back inside and grabbed my camera.

I ran back outside and snapped some pictures, even though in just a few minutes the clouds had already changed and moved.

I do love summertime storms.

 

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Giving Thanks In The Midst Of

Category F5 tornado (upgraded from initial est...

Image via Wikipedia

I heard the rain and wind last night

Only semi-awake in the dark of the night

A fleeting thought of stormy weather

As I changed my sleeping position

I woke to the early morning news of more people hurt

more buildings demolished

more lives destroyed

more people gone…just gone

never to return

Those who have lost so much in the deadly winds

Why them? Why not me?

Is it right for me to give thanks on this Monday, when so many are hurting? Lost? Devastated?

I quietly sit at the table

and stare at my computer screen.

Images from the news seared into my thoughts

My heart aches.

*thankful that more people weren’t hurt or injured

*for friends and neighbors who reach out their hands

*for those who come to help

*for the human spirit

*for not giving up

*for pressing on

*for trying one more time

*for surviving

*for God, who is still there

Some of us have not gone through the utter devastation of a tornado, but we have lost loved ones. Some of us have never huddled through the howling winds, but we have huddled in fear of losing everything from job loss. Some of us have never watched as our house was torn apart, but we understand fire, floods, or theft. We haven’t stood in terror watching the storm approach, but we understand the terror of a deadly diagnosis.

Storms of life come in all shapes and sizes.

I am thankful that God loves us, that He cares for us through ALL of life’s storms.

The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge. He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.  Psalm 18:2 NIV

What are some things you are thankful for this Monday?

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