Facing storms in my life, I have found God either quickly calms my storm or allows it to rage to calm me. Returning from a wonderful yoga retreat weekend in northern Indiana, I arrived home just in time to watch panels of my privacy fence fly and explode into the air from a wind storm. Fortunately I was traveling with a friend whose novel and intriguing presence seemed to calm and entertain my children as we huddled in the basement watching mature trees blow over outside. The next day news helicopters were flying over my neighborhood and I received a call from my sister-in-law who was in Mexico and saw the rubble on TV--guess my house made international news. Why did the world have to see my yard so messy? My house is one of the fortunate homes in the small tornado touch down area that was deemed livable and not evacuated. It has been over 48 hours since we have had power and by the looks of the neighborhood, I'm guessing it will take at least 48 more hours to see the light of my curly florescent Eco-friendly bulbs. Being the weather is getting colder, we decided to evacuate for the night and pray the police curfew and barricades to the neighborhood are enough to keep our home safe while empty and dark without working alarm. Did I mention that I have a large fir tree down in my front yard, perfect for a Rockefeller Plaza Christmas Tree (hopefully they saw this ideal tree with the root system intact on the news and will come pick it up soon). And too, I need to confess that I am having generator envy toward my retired neighbors with light in their back windows.
God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Psalm 46:1
God seemed a little scary to me when that storm was blowing hard enough to break the window of the SUV I was riding in. God also waited until I was home to let the storm go full throttle. Living moment to moment with the uncertainty of where my family will eat our next meal or sleep, I'm grateful to find calm. Approximately 24 hours after the storm hit, I taught a yoga and meditation class full of women without electricity at home. Even at 6:30AM, 36 hours after the storm, people were keeping their yoga and meditation class a priority, despite being displaced or inconvenienced by the storm. One woman told me, "We all need a little yoga right now." God is ever-present and I believe the people in my classes understand when we slow down to breathe, we experience that ever-presence. Experiencing the help, refuge and strength of God requires calming the storm within ourselves. Like I said, God either quickly calms the storm or allows it to rage on in order to calm us. Creating and developing calm in our lives is essential when God is bigger than us, and allows unpredictable storms in life to pop up. So take a moment, or better yet a few moments and breathe to see if you can find calm in your storm.
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