Stormy

Where we're located it seems as if the weather patterns have been quite different over the past couple of years. We've experienced a lot of storms.  This past winter was loaded with snow storms, to the extent that it ended up being the 3rd worst winter since record keeping was started.  Spring brought with it yet more stormy weather, and now that summer has come there is no let up.  Some of those storms have been very, very strong.

Life is similar to the weather.  There are nice times, comfortable and bright times.  There are times when some clouds threaten our horizon.  And there are storms.  When something catastrophic hits us out of the blue, we certainly feel as if a tornado has turned us upside down and inside out.  We sometimes experience stormy relationships.....even our relationship with God as we sometime experience doubt, a bit of separation, or yes....anger.

Storms are a fact of life.  Mother Nature, with the regularity of clockwork, offers us up storms throughout our lives, storms that we can't avoid and therefore have to go through.  We survive.  Stormy times in our lives are also a fact of life.  Some we can avoid, some we can't.  Some occur as a result of our own doing, others just happen.  The fact remains, we are going to have stormy times in our lives. 

God walks right alongside us as we go through those stormy times in our lives.  Yes, many of us live with the knowledge that He is there in the good times, but sometimes it is harder to trust that He is there in the stormy times.   He is there...period, end of story.  It is our choice whether we trust Him and His presence.  Through trusting and listening during the stormy times, we can experience positive and surprising life changes as a result.

"When you come out of the storm you won't be the same person that walked in.  That's what the storm is all about."   Haruki Murakami