With summer upon us, storms are sure to arise. Thunderstorms thrive on two basic elements: moisture and rapidly rising warm air. Both are ever present in the spring and summer months, therefore creating the perfect atmosphere for a storm.
Just like summer, life has its fair share of storms as well. Lately, it seems as if a storm has permanently parked at our house. Here’s a little background on our storm and what I’m learning from it all.
Our storm started with my oldest daughter breaking her wrist through the growth plate, which required surgery. A doctor not in network for her insurance quickly performed the surgery.
Then, a couple weeks later, our exterminator put out some rat poison in a detached garage that is rarely used on the back of our property. A couple days later, my husband decided to store something there and our little Jack Russell mixed dog followed him in. My husband shooed him out, only to find he snuck back in a few moments later and ate half a pack of the poison. We rushed him to the pet ER because our vet had closed 15 minutes earlier. Thankfully they treated him for $400 and told us to follow up with our regular vet a few days later. I called and scheduled his appointment and he seemed to be doing wonderful, until his appointment. All of a sudden, he wasn’t eating or drinking or playing. When I took him in for the follow up, they needed to keep him because they had no idea what was going on. They did confirm it wasn’t related to the rat poison, so they needed to do some testing. The next day we found out he had pancreatitis and got another $400 bill.
Another week later, we woke up around 5 am on Sunday to let the dog out to go to do his business. When we let him in, we discovered a skunk had sprayed him. We’d had this happened once before and knew what we needed to mix. The only problem – we were out peroxide. So when we got in my car to go find an open store and buy the peroxide, we found that the spraying had apparently taken place very near my car (which still stinks today).
Then just a week later, the pump for the inground pool at our rental house (which was our starter home and has been in my husband’s family for years) goes out costing us yet another $450.
A couple days later, our heat pump flooded our garage and at this point we aren’t sure yet what that’s going to cost.
However in the midst of this (never-ending) storm, God has been speaking to my soul. At first I felt completely overwhelmed and defeated (I did just have a baby 7 weeks ago). However with each new obstacle we seem to be challenged with, I look at the face of my children and thank God they are healthy. I look around my ever-messy house and thank God I have a home. I look at my obviously shrinking bank account and I thank God that my bills are some how getting paid. I look at my Savior, who in the midst of a massive storm on the sea, slept. Not only did He sleep, but also that He slept on a pillow.
“And he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake him, and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish?” (Mark 4:38)
That tells me Jesus was comfortable in the storm. He wasn’t worried that it would overtake the boat He was on. He knew how to calm the storm when it was necessary, so He slept as peacefully and deeply as possible. So until the time comes that our storm ends – and that time will come because no storm lasts forever – I’m going to rest peacefully knowing that my Savior won’t let it overtake me. I hope that whenever and whatever your storm is, that you’ll do the same.