Safe In the Storm

I'm hunkered down in my hallway........Southerners will know what that means but for others let me translate.....I'm on the floor in my hallway as rain thunders down and the tornado warning signal continues to sound on my phone....feeling a bit anxious since I live on the second floor in a corner apartment....not the best place to be in a tornado.  Do I actually think the tornado will touchdown? In my area of the country, especially in a town which has been devastated by a tornado in the not so distant past....you just never know.

As I wait for the danger to pass, I find myself thinking of how blessed I truly am as I pray for the safety of my family who also live here.  My parents live nearby and are healthy and active and formidable card players.  My daughter and her husband live 40 miles away and my oldest son lives and works here in town. And I have great coworkers! And dear, treasured friends who brighten my life daily! Funny how the threat of a tornado makes one reflect on all the good in one's life.

True, my life has not always gone as I expected...still doesn't. I haven't always dealt with things, turmoil, plan changes very well....but lately...well, my attitude is changing.  A friend wrote this week quoting Exodus 20:21, "Moses approached the thick darkness where God was," and put so many things into perspective for me. Sometimes when the clouds around me seem the darkest, I wonder where God's Light is and never stop to think, He is in the darkness with me!

As my friend wrote, "Forge ahead in the darkness without flinching, knowing that under the shelter of the cloud, God is waiting for you." And He is! And always will be! That knowledge is how my attitude is changing. I try not to rant and rail against changes going on around me nor do I allow myself to get sucked into the whirlpool of turmoil which seems to surround the changes. My focus is on the knowledge that God is with me in the darkness which sometimes seems to surround me.

The sirens have stopped although dark thunderclouds still hover and threaten just like problems and turmoil still hover and threaten my tranquility. My strength comes from knowing that God is with me in both situations....and I count on Him to bring me peace.