I sit on my screened porch and listen to the rain pouring down.  I am fascinated by storms.  I don’t know why exactly; maybe it is the flash of the lightening or the crash of the thunder.  Somehow it is comforting me to me to sit and listen to the rain rolling off of the trees while the thunder echoes off the mountains around me, as long as it isn’t too close. When the storm closes in and is right on top of the house…then I am nervous because there is power in the storm.  That power can destroy.  It can be frightening.

Lately, life is like the storm.  It is powerful and right on top of us.  Not just my cancer, but heart related issues in both of our dads, Bill’s mom’s cancer, my mom’s surgery and my grandmother’s death.  Storms of life are powerful and they are frightening.  Gone is the comfort of a lazy rain with distant rumbles of thunder.  The lightening is so frequent there are flashes of darkness immediately followed by what sounds like a bomb that shakes everything.  My desire in the storm is to find a safe place to run and hide, to get away from the noise and the danger.  Yet, here I am, in the storm that doesn’t seem to let up…until I find my refuge in the Lord.  Then, even though the storm rages around me, I am safe.  I run into his arms just as a child runs and climbs under the covers of his parent’s bed in a thunderstorm.  There in the middle of the bed he falls asleep, no longer afraid of the danger. 

The Lord is my refuge and my strength.  He is my strong tower to whom I run because I know the storm won’t last forever.  While it bombards me and my family, he will be our strength.  After the storm, the sun will come out.  There will be clean, fresh air, it will be cool and the sun will seem more brilliant than before.  The green will be greener, and the blue of the sky bluer.  All will be right again…but better.  I am waiting for the rainbow.  It is his promise.

Answered Prayers:

Dad is doing well after having a stint put in today.  He hopes to go home tomorrow.  Bill’s dad is doing well after having his pacemaker put in on Thursday.  All of us are hanging on to the strength of God…and the prayers of our friends. 🙂