Beauty In The Storm

Evonna and I were driving home the other day and as we were driving we noticed this storm that had moved between where we were at and where we wanted to be. As we continued to drive towards our final destination we couldn't help but admire the beauty of the storm. The cloud formations and contrasting color variations were magnificent. We admired the storm so much that Evonna couldn't stop taking pictures of it with her iPhone.

Now when I first saw this amazing storm I tried to calculate the best route home to go around and totally avoid having to drive through the thing. Because the radio described it as violent and suggested that everyone take cover. At first I thought I had perfectly planned our journey of avoidance but as fate would have it we ended up right in the middle of eighty mile and hour winds and rain that was literally flying horizontal right at us to the point of where we could no longer see two feet in front of us. Now you have to understand that the path we chose was sixty-eight highway which is narrow and has absolutely no shoulders what so ever. We finally found a drive into some farmers field and pulled in behind a grove of trees for protection from the harsh winds. Even though we were shielded by those trees the wind and rains power still shook our car as we sat there helpless and vulnerable. So we did the only thing we knew, we seriously prayed for protection and for the storm to subside so we could make it to our destination.

Eventually the storm finally subsided, at least enough for us to head towards home. And the closer we moved towards where we belonged and where we wanted to be the more we noticed the storm seemed to be behind us and in an instant we could finally see the sun and clear skies again. And as soon as we were out of the storm and heading away from it I couldn't help but look in the rear view mirror and admire the beauty of the storm once again. But this time I had a different perspective, a different admiration and a different respect for the storm.

And just like the storms of life, they're really great to admire from a distance. We can always try to outrun, go around or avoid them but at some point we're all destined to be caught right smack in the middle of one. But what I learned from this storm once again was that we go though storms for a reason. Whether it's to provoke us into drawing closer to the SON, to find that place of rest and protection, to wait it out or to realize after we're delivered from the storm that the SON was always there above it and was there while we were going through it.

You see you can always admire the beauty OF a storm from a distance but you gain a better admiration, respect and understanding of it's purpose and awesomeness when you've been able to admire the beauty IN the storm.