Storms...

Last night a train of thunderstorms swept across North Central Texas leaving me cringing in fear as I lay in my bed anxiously watching the news reports predicting our area would be hit with up to 90 mile an hour winds, 1-2 inch size hail and possibly tornadoes. I tapped my husband on the shoulder until he roused from his sleep. "Storm's coming, it looks bad." He grunted his acknowledgement and returned to his peaceful night's rest. Fat lot of good that did me, I was still twitching with every news report.

I climbed out of bed and grabbed a couple of flashlights and took one to the girls in the front of the house. Reports were that power lines and transformers were out where the storm was coming from and we were in line for a direct hit. I handed the flashlight to my oldest girl - who, by the way thinks I am a blithering idiot when it comes to storms. (That could not possibly be because one spring evening the kids had a guest over and I made them haul everything out from underneath the stairs so we could have a "Tornado Drill." The storms were moving through their young friend's home town headed our way and we could not raise his family on the telephone. So, I sat in the living room, much to my three kiddoes shagrin, and whooped like a siren while they all were all supposed to run in the closet and shut the door!) Okay, so I was a bit nuts that night. I recounted the weather report and the timeline for the storms adding, "Now if you hear the sirens go off, you get in that laundry room right away and keep your cell phones with you."

I went back to bed and nervously rocked myself as I listened to wind kicking up outside. I could hear the storm coming and tried not to focus on it too much. I began to pray, "Lord, your word promises us protetion and that you will calm the storm. Lord, Protect our neighborhood, quiet the wind and calm the storm, stop the hail and don't let any tornadoes come near this home. Lord, protect this family and this home. Put angels around and keep us safe. I know you will, your word promises me you will. Amen." I finally closed my eyes about a half hour before the storm was due to blow in.

I awoke with a start as the alarm went off waking my dear husband to go to work. We had made it through the night, no broken windows, no claps of thunder that roused us from our slumber... The power never even flickered. I was so relieved. "I guess we made it through the storm." I flopped over on my other side and snuggled down under the big comforter and listened as the still falling rain pitter-pattted on the windows of our bedroom. A flash of lightning and clap of thunder momentarily stole my peace, but a quick listen to the weatherman on the news told me that everything was okay. I rested for two more hours before waking Taylor for school.

As I sat thinking of this morning's storms and my fear of them, I thought to myself - that is a fear the devil has fostered in me - telling me I cannot trust God to take care of us. I remembered the disciples cowering in fear as Jesus slept in the boat. I could picture Him sleeping in our home, ready to wake when the time was right, calm the storm and deliver us from danger. Isaiah 43 came to mind.

Last spring, our area suffered with a lot of rain, flooding and some tornadoes that provided near misses for our community. We were in a direct path of one that had been forming north of us and was moving to the south and east at a clipping pace. I had my girls and my husband in our walk-in closet. Actually my husband was standing in our Master Bath eyeballing the television ready to make a dash into the closet if the worst came to pass. I was reading Isaiah 43 aloud and praying through the time when the storm passed over us. It did pass over us, right over us and moved on to the next community where it did tons of damage. My daughter, who sort of laughed at me for putting them in the closet, said, "Mom, you so just prayed that storm away from us."

God is so faithful, even when I am so fearful. He is amazing. I know the root of my fear is from a childhood where I was roused from my sleep to be hauled to a creepy storm cellar during terrible storms one night in west Texas, and then as a young school girl we were in the middle of the building with skylights taking cover when hailstones came crashing through shattering the glass over our heads. I had seen lightning strikes, and witnessed the devestation of tornadoes on the news - and then one spring morning nearly 10 years ago, I was in an auto accident in a thunderstorm where I was injured badly which really sealed it up for me for sure. God is greater than our fears, our doubts and our bad experiences and I love that He is still so faithful even when I am so afriad.