Stronger Storms

    Storms, they rage, they roar, they shatter, they destroy…they water, they plant, they renew.  We watched with eager anticipation as the wind pushed against us and whipped up the bank of dark clouds that was rolling and churning closer and closer to where we stood on the roof.  The flashes of lightning cracking the sky and the roll of thunder had drawn us up here well after 11:00pm but for a glimpse of the raw beauty of this storm we would stay to watch even when we were forced to step into the door way to avoid being drenched as the huge drops of hard pelting rain began to fall from the sky flooding all the rivulets and valleys of the roof’s terrain.  All we could say above the roar was an occasional, “Wow.”  The next morning when the torrents passed would be the time to pick up the pieces, clean up the mess, and put things back in order but now, in the moment, we stood watching the glimpses of our Mighty God at work in the midst of the storm. 

  It was only a short time later that news reached me of the storms in Oklahoma and for my family that is personal territory, we have roots there, we have family there, it is for America the Heartland, and for my family it has real heart strings.  First question to my Momma, “Is the family Ok?”  and then relief when yes, though there was property damage, our family was safe.  I thought about the storm just a short time before and I began to ponder the moments when the storm rages all around and I find my source of strength in the roots that go deep.  I see the power of the storm; I see the things that topple, and the things that stand, the things that are surface stuff blown away and the things that are built strong, planted deep stand to weather the raging elements.  Yes, I see God’s might in the midst of the storm but it will be tomorrow when the storm has passed that I will hear His quiet voice urging me to carry on, to pick up the pieces, to listen to His heart, and to grow my roots deeper and my faith surer so that when the next storm comes I will stand even stronger.