The Storms Will Come

As you know, Thursday was nuts trying to get stuff done before the rain. Thursday night there was a little rain only enough to make the ground a bit damp. Yesterday (Friday) was muggy and the air was THICK! That uncomfortable feeling like your legs have to cut through the air to move forward. YUCK! I don't like it. It was also very windy, like Mary Poppins is coming in, windy. I find it difficult to do much in that weather (so why do I live in Missouri....still trying to figure that out). Laundry, school work, prepping for pizza night, and cleaning the school bookshelf (I am still trying to figure out what we are doing for next year) filled the day while the girls continue to ask me when we are going to go through the fabric and make their aprons. Maybe we'll get that done today.

So last night, we eat our pizza, I am giving Chandler a bath and the phone rings. Sarah asks if we are watching T.V. because there are storms headed right for us. Now, I love storms. I don't ever want to be in a tornado but I do think they are amazing. Not because of their destruction but because of their strength and power. It really is an amazing world that God has created. How anyone can deny His creation is beyond me......but I digress. I do love storms but know that we have to be careful and I have my kids to think of. (Yep, I would probably be a storm chaser if I could.) Jared turns on the T.V. and I finish up Chandler's bath. The girls finish eating and Savannah is cleaning up the kitchen. The weather report says the storm is headed for us and that it should be to us around 8:01 p.m., so Jared sends me downstairs to make a place for us to hang out for a bit. At this there begins to be some anxiety about a tornado hitting us. One daughter starts crying and basically going into hysterics. Her comment was, "I don't want to meet Jesus until He comes back to get us." I wanted to cry. She knows she is going to heaven when she dies but, she said, "I want to die when I am really old." Over the course of the next 30 minutes, there were many tears but also many chances to be reminded that God is in control of everything.

I am in continually in awe at the task of parenting and training our children in His ways. I hate when my children hurt, suffer, or experience sadness even though I know it is all part of life and makes them who they will be. To see the shear fear and anguish in her face made me want to cry. The experience was a test for me as well. She had good questions, real fears and lots of What if's..... How will we know that it is coming? I don't want to die when I am young. I want to just be here when Jesus returns to get us. What if the cats and kittens get blown away? What about the dogs, are they going to live? What will happen to the animals if we die? What if the top of the house crashes and the stairs crumble, we will be stuck. What if the tornado takes away or smashes up our cars, will we have to walk? Everything is so far away. As she looked around the basement she made several observations. At least our coats are down here and we can stay warm. Mom, your sewing machine and fabric is down here so you can make us new clothes. We have cheese and milk in the fridge down here. Those mattresses, we can pull them out onto the floor to sleep on. Over and over I reminded her that NO MATTER WHAT God is in control and loves us more than anything. He will provide EVERYTHING we need. She wanted promises. It was tough. I couldn't promise her that we would all live and that nothing would happen to us. It was a tornado heading our direction for goodness sake. However, what I could promise her was that we have peace knowing who is in control of the universe. It is He who commands the waters, the winds, the sun and the moon. He has our days numbered and knows what we will be.

Her question, "Why does God let this storm happen?" was an avenue for growth in her faith in who God is. Just as we are learning weekly, as our church grows in this knowledge of Him. The more we talked and she would have fits of anxiety about the storm, it kept coming back to knowing who God is, trusting Him in all circumstances and ultimately resting in Him.

The storm passed, Jared gave us the okay to come back upstairs and resume life. There were tears of great relief and joy. There were prayers of thanksgiving and praises to God. A few minutes later, my daughter again came to me in tears. This time she said, "Momma, I know why God let this storm come tonight. It was so that I would learn to love Him and trust Him more." WHOA!!!! What wisdom from a child. It is true in every aspect of life. When other "storms" come, we must remember to praise Him, love Him, and rest in Him.

The storms will come. He will remain faithful. We must follow and trust.