Louisiana learns of the Power of God during a vicious thunderstorm, and despite her fears, she learns that God is watching out over her and her children.
It has been one of those nights, those nights where one is kept up during all hours of the night, and the next day, the person is dog-tired.
I had one of those nights last night, and at work, I just wasn't myself. I was fighting to feign off sleep, and it was all I could do to keep from falling asleep while taking care of patients, doing reports, admissions and charts, and taking vitals (vital signs--pulse, blood pressure, temperature, respiration). It was all due to the weather.
We had some wild weather roll into Nashville last night; and there were power lines and trees knocked down from the strong winds. For a minute, I thought we were going to have a tornado, but the tornado sirens never went off, thank goodness! The lightning was arcing and pulsating across the stygian night sky, and the hail pelted menacingly on our roof; for a minute, I thought the hail was going to burst through, and from the sound of it, it seemed like it was some pretty good-sized hail (maybe golfball or larger). The thunder boomed constantly, and the wind blew, at times, near hurricane strength; this was why there were power outages and damage reported throughout our fair city. (We had no power at our house, but we had a generator, so our power didn't really go out.) Johnny slept through the whole thing (as did Mario; Mario is profoundly deaf, and Johnny is hard of hearing; Sun Hee also slept through all the noisy weather; she is blind, and she couldn't see the lightning flashing anyway), but the other kids were awakened by the loud, crashing thunder, the heavy wind, and the pounding hail. Ronee' started crying because her arthritic joints were aching horribly, and she wanted a bath to soothe her stiff joints, but I told her she would have to wait until the storm passed; there was NO way on earth I was going to have my daughter soaking in a tub when there was an electrical storm in progress; she could be electrocuted, and I just didn't want to take that chance. So I held her on my lap, and she buried her head in my armpit as she quaked in terror from the fury of the storm.
Despite all the drama that the storm produced, I somehow felt at peace, because it reminded me of God's Awesome Power, and He showed me that He was in control of the weather, and He was doing His best to protect us from harm and danger. We sustained but minor damage in our backyard (shingles, twigs, and leaves littered our backyard, plus our shed was leaning over against a tree pretty good), but we had been spared major damage, and other people weren't so lucky. We also lost power, but our generator kept us going until the regular power could be restored by the electric company. It ended up that we were without power for six hours during the storm, and two of those hours storm after storm pounded Nashville, which was why there was such a wide expanse of power failures. (This morning, some people were still without power--ours had since been restored--, but the electric company promised customers that all power would be restored by this evening.)
Even when things seem at their worst, God is in the midst of the storm, not just any storm pertaining to weather, but ALL storms of our lives. We could be going through something unbelievably horrific or tragic, but even when we feel that He is NOT there, He is, in the midst of all the tempests in our lives. He has promised us that He would NEVER leave or forsake us, no matter WHAT we may face, now, or in our future. He loves us too much to see harm come to us, and this is why He will cover us with His Protection and Mercy when life gets to be too stressful or unbearable, and no problem, no matter HOW minor or trivial, is ignored by God. If you give your problem to God, He WILL be there, and He WILL help you through the storms of life; and soon, you will emerge victorious into the light and sunshine.
This was the message that God told me last night during the height of the storm; and despite the banging of the weather outside, I felt at peace because I knew God was in control, and I felt at peace; and I knew I had to be strong for my children. I told them that God was watching out over us, and if they got scared, all they could do was pray and ask for God to remove that fear from their lives. God helped my children and myself through the height of the storm, and He can do the same for you if you only ask for His help. You know He will never leave you: He loves you too much, and he always will!
Beautiful, powerful write in the Lord. Your footsteps are ordained in the power and strength of the Lord. In the storm, you received peace, through the revealing of the Lord. A peace you find because you search His ways. God bless you Karen.
Oh, just wonderful Karen! God is ALWAYS with us! I added this to my library so I can refer back to it when I have a crisis of my own!I HAVE A FEELING i WILL PUT IT TO GOOD USE! (always seem to be having a medical or personal crisis) Tim called today and I told him to read my website and then said, "Goodbye!". Mom then started singing, "Gonna wash that man right outta my hair!" HaHa! Smile! I have not heard from him since. He is a looser!
Great story!
Reviewed by Robert Blackwell
10/6/2003
Another beautiful write, hon...thanks for sharing your heart and soul with us. {{{{{{{{{{{{{{hugs}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}
P.S. Here are more {{{{{{{{{{{{{hugs}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}} for Ronee'.
It has been one of those nights, those nights where one is kept up during all hours of the night, and the next day, the person is dog-tired.
