Hold On in the Storms

This morning I am heading home. I've been on a weekend away, visiting with some family, some friends. It has been lovely. Amazing how two days can rejuvenate the mind and body. Today I’m prepared to go back to my busy schedule: household management, cooking, cleaning, editing and writing, driving kids around, pausing to hug my equally busy husband.

This is the time of life when the children in my home have a life but not a license. Since we live in the country, and my husband and I prefer they be involved in activities, I drive. Truthfully, my hubby does his share but I’m available more often than he is.

Anyway, this morning I head home and I’m ready. The only problem facing me is a looming storm that is supposed to begin sometime this morning. Snow. Heavy snow, and lots of it. I’m heading out early so I can beat the storm.

It’s a funny metaphor to me, actually, beating the storm. In life, can we really beat the storms? Get there ahead of them or drive away from them as a way to avoid these torrents of heartache, failure and loss? In a literal sense, we can beat the storm as long as we have a good weather man and a head start. But in life circumstances, the storms usually come when nobody is standing watch.

I've had some storms in my life. Truthfully, I should have seen some of them coming. I didn't. I tend to wear those glasses that are tinted just enough to give the illusion that the sun is always shining. I suppose some might call me an optimist, others a Pollyanna, maybe naive. I like to think of it as hopeful.

The fact remains, the storms of life will come. I guess it’s not so much the fact that there are storms as how we deal with them. If we see them coming, like the snow this morning, we can try and avoid them.

Mostly, though, we need to accept the fact that storms will come and learn to hold on during them.  Hold on to God. Hold on to our family. Hold on to our hope.

I used to beat myself up mentally for the storms that could have been prevented. I’m painfully human and make mistakes, just like the next person. Hopefully I've become wiser, more watchful. However, even the “preventable” storms have taught me a lot, taught me to hold on tighter, especially to God and taught me how to trust Him. He’s the umbrella, the tornado shelter, the lifeboat.

Do you find yourself in a storm today? 

Encouragement: If you find yourself in a storm, perhaps a small shower, perhaps it's a tsunami, hold on. Don't weather it alone. Reach for those you love. Reach for God - he is always there. Hold on.