After the Storm

Yesterday evening, we got nailed by a storm with winds that I haven't seen in a long time. For the first time in this house and since being a mom, I sent my kids, including Ian who was alseep in his carrier, to the downstairs bathroom for safety as I evaluated the stormy conditions. The power kept going off and on again several times. I was hearing all kinds of things hit the house.

That afternoon had been another hot and humid one. It was what I like to call "wicked hot" outside. The kind of heat that you feel like you were just going to sweat yourself into one big puddle on the sidewalk. Well, we have been experiencing this kind of heat quite a bit this summer. I believe the weather man this morning said yesterday was our 10th day this summer of 100+ degrees--a record.

Well, this morning I got up for a run around the lake, and it was cool outside. Real cool. The air was fresh and clear. The sky was blue. It was refreshing. Later on, I got the kids out the door and we went outside to enjoy the weather and I got to thinking about yesterday's weather vs. today's weather, and well it dawned on me, life and trials are similar to summer weather.

Trials that we experience in our lives are like hot, humid, miserable day(s). Things just keep getting hotter and dryer--more uncomfortable and more unbearable. We wonder how much more can we take? We long for a break and relief. Time passes. We are yearning for coolness. We are thirsty. Then we look up and see clouds building. Perhaps really dark clouds as they were yesterday. We may think relief is coming, like a pending storm, but then we become concerned of the means for which we may receive it. Thunder rolls, lightening strikes, winds blow--they all represent either the emotions, or hurtles associated with our painful time. Then the clouds open up and it begins to poor. Rain could represent our tears--heavy tears or happy tears. We may choose to run from the storm, but the powerful part is that we can seek shelter from the storm through our Father like my children often run to the safety of me, their mother, during a storm. Then the storm passes and we experience the freshness and cleansing a storm can bring. The nourishment it can supply in times of a drought--representing how God has brought us through it and we have the opportunity to grow and learn from the trial and experience.

Now don't take me wrong, sometimes we experience several storms, like most summers--hot and stormy weather may return in just a few short days, BUT the calm always returns and the sun always comes back out again. Perhaps a rainbow can be spotted here and there as well.