Living in the Storms

Today's guest is Julie from http://www.dutchbeingme.com/ or you can also check her out on Twitter @ http://twitter.com/dutchbeingme . I stole copied this from her Blogger profile; she doesn't toot her own horn. "30-something. Daughter. Sister. Auntie-to-be. Friend. Traveler. Music lover. Blogger. Health Addict. Shopper. Outspoken but Shy. Workaholic. Reader. Athlete. Christian." She is also addicted to Diet Coke & afraid of car washes (shhh).  Her original topic wasn't storms, but due to some nasty weather in her neck of the woods, her thoughts turned that way.  Her are thoughts on living in the storms ...

Living in the Storms…
It always seems like the storms of life take us off guard. So much so that we become tense, or maybe
even afraid, when things get loud, distracting and keep us from the familiar quiet that we long for.

As I write this my area is going through some pretty heavy storms. Strong winds, heavy rains and even
hail and tornados in places. We don’t see these kinds of storms here that often. And this year it seems
- outside of a couple heavy doses of rain - it’s been kind of quiet on the storm front.

It’s the calm of life that really distracts us from being ready for the storms. These are the times that we
relax, we let our guard down and we become a little more carefree. Maybe these are times of
abundance, togetherness, or maybe even just being free from pain.

And we all know that the times of calm in our lives cannot last forever. The rains will come… and
sometimes they bring a pretty severe storm. Storms like losing a job, a diagnosis of cancer or maybe
the death of a loved one.

But when the severe stuff comes, we rally together. Not only with our families, but with the
community around us – the close friends and neighbors, and depending on the city you live in, maybe
everyone in the town. We gather and support each other.

My family felt this directly when my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2006. Family and friends
prayed for us, brought meals and were there to lend a listening ear. Because the storms of life aren’t
meant to be gone through alone. We were designed to be together, to care for each other when the
storms get too hard to handle.

And when the storm passed, my family showed our gratefulness and celebrated the end of the storm
with the community. We threw a party. It was fun being able to thank everyone that had been there
for us, people from every side of the family as well as friends that we had known for years.

Since that storm, many others have come within that group of people… and we’ve all been there to
help each other, to pray for one another and to listen when times get rough. But the rough times pass,
the calm comes back to allow us rest and maybe even give us the energy to battle the next storm that
may come our way.

Isn’t it amazing what a storm that rages outside can make you think about?