After the Storm

Walking to my car, sirens echoed a frightening sound.  The sky was an unusual shade of green, as lightening struck brightly and thunder trembled loudly.  The rain was pouring as the wind whirled strongly attempting to tackle me to the ground.  Thoughts echoed in my head, as  fear began to overwhelm me. 

The umbrella I was carrying was of little use as it bent inside out absent the ability to provide shelter.  The short journey to my car resulted in me being drenched from my hair dripping wet to the sloshing of my shoes. 

Was I in the midst of a tornado?  Had it passed?  Was it going to get worse?  Did it only just begin?  Was I safe to drive home?  Do I retreat to the office and wait?  Answers were unknown.  The sirens continued to echo standing in the pouring rain.  A chill came over my body with the coldness and drenching of my clothing.  I began to shiver.  My only desire of the moment was to be safe, dry, and out of the storm.

All of us will experience storms during our lifetime.  I’ve experienced many.  None of them are enjoyed, and there is great difficulty in seeing the beauty amidst the storm.  I could begin to list out all the storms of my life, but I would fear the mere doing this would frighten many away.  How could you have survived so much?  Or, they could take the other approach and instead of amazement in my ability to survive, they can judge me that I have suffered the experience.  They can begin to condemn me as if the storm was a fault of my own.  They can define me due to the storm in my life.  Then, others desire to pity me as if they could provide rescue.  The most beautiful response has nothing to do with the storm or me.

The most beautiful response is when another listens to my story and they are drawn nearer to God.  They see how God has worked in my life to transform my heart and soul making me the person that I am today.  They see a God of restoration, help, love, power and care.   The other person steps out of their shelter and comfort zone and desires to walk in the storm with me of their choosing.  They walk beside me in the experience, and in so doing the devestating effects of the storm are diminished by love and comfort that penetrates deeply into my soul bringing reassurance, strength, and confidence of something more to come.  They see beyond my drenched soul to something much more.  They help to clear the blindness of my eyes revealing the power of hope.  The storms of our life are defining moments, and are not forgotten. 

There are all sorts of storms and not every one ends happy on this side of eternity.  I think of my friend Lori who died from a brain tumor.  Her story did not end happy on this side, yet I know her to be with Jesus.  I think of parents that I know watching their little child suffer with cancer, pouring out prayers, asking others to pour out prayers, and unknowing how their storm will end continuing to trust in God in the most difficult journey.  I think of those that continue to suffer in the unknown of unemployment.  My sister traveled the journey of unknown for over a year until just recently, with the doubts, fears, and insecurities struggling at her inner being.  I think of those with relatives overseas in the midst of war defending our country with the possibility that death could at any time come knocking at their door.  I think of the storms that can happen at any moment from a sudden onset of unexpected illness, car accident, poor choice, a sudden death, or many other unfortunate circumstances.  I think of the storm that has been most difficult in my life to get beyond experiencing the tragedy of a divorce and all that encompasses this including heartbreak, destroyed finances, broken families, emotional distress, loneliness, and much more that is not easily explained to those that have not traveled through the experience.  There are many types of storms, and none are easy. 

In this past week, I’m reminded that there is life and beauty that comes following the storm.  The most beautiful part of a storm is a rainbow that often follows.  Then, there is the cleanness, newness, and most wonderful smell of freshness in the air.  An overwhelming peace can easily bring comfort in a new security, a deepened faith, and a reassurance of love that was not known before.   There is a strengthening of the spirit, a resilience to not give up, and the ability to encourage others that are still within the tormenting rains.  There is a beauty that follows the storm that can come in no other way.  To see the beauty, the storm must be endured.  The journey is never easy.  Blessings can be hard to find.  When the other side is reached, new life is always present.

I’m thankful for every storm experienced in my life.  The storms of my life are not who I am, but they have defined and continue to define the person that I am becoming.  They have been a blessing in my life transforming my heart for the better.

I do periodically fear the entering of another storm.  Encouragement is found in the greatest truth that real life and beauty comes following the storm.  I certainly do not want to miss the rainbow and so many other blessings by attempting to avoid the storms of life.

Love is…

Love is…

Beautiful?                    Wonderful?

Emotion?     an Action?     a Decision?     a Feeling?

Sexual Attraction?     Passionate?     Sensual?     Exciting?

Devotion?     Sacrificial?     Unselfish?     Unexplainable?

Always Changing?       Mysterious?       Questionable?

Based on my needs?   Based on another’s needs?

Powerful?     Sustaining?      Energizing?

Absent?     Desired?     Needed?

Precious?     a Gift?

Forever?

?

There are times when a love story is so real that it remains in your heart and soul so deeply that the desire is great for that personal experience.  There is one great love story that is very personal to me.  It is the love story of my Grandpa Joe and Grandma Kay.  Interesting enough, my grandma’s first marriage ended in early death with her raising her two teenage sons alone.  Later in life, my grandma met my Grandpa Joe. 

I do not know much about their dating, courting, or engagement.  I do know that all in the family were opposed to my grandma marrying Grandpa Joe because their opinion was that he was too old.  Despite the view of others, my grandma married him.  My grandpa actually outlived my grandma by several years, and had far greater health.

My grandpa proved to become an extremely loving man.  Everywhere he went, he made friends.  He was always happy enjoying the company of others, laughing, joking, and telling funny stories.  He made my grandma very happy, and they were very much in love.  I’m sure they had some tough times as any relationship would have but I do not have any knowledge of these.  Their love for each other was great.  They were always holding hands appearing to be a most beautiful couple.

Later in life, my grandma got Alzheimer’s loosing her memory moment by moment.  For the last 10 years of my grandma’s life, my grandpa would go to the nursing home for every meal feeding her breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  He became friends with the nurses and doctors.  As well, he became an advocate for the other patients making sure that their needs were met.  Despite his good health, my grandpa sacrificed 10 years of his life to care for the woman that he loved.  He took his vows and commitment seriously.  In my visits with him, this was not a burden but was due to the love in his heart for my grandma.

Grandpa Joe was a man of much love and of much faith.  Every day, he would go to the church and pray to talk to God.  I recall kneeling next to him in the Catholic Church as he would share with me.  I was too small to ever ask my grandpa if he knew the salvation message.  But, I can say without doubt that I will meet my grandpa in Heaven.  Some things are not spoken, but you know them deep in your heart.  The type of love that my grandpa showed to others was beyond just merely actions but was something that flowed from his heart.  I’m very certain that my grandpa knew Jesus, because this type of love can only come from a higher place.

What is love?  Love is found in a man like my grandpa.  He never received any honor or recognition for his love, but his love is deeply ingrained in my heart for the way he loved me, my sisters, my brothers, my grandma, neighbors, strangers, and everyone who came in contact with him.

Was he a man of love his entire life?  This I do not know, but I doubt that this has significance.  The fact that is significant is that my grandpa did learn how to love.  He learned how to love a selfless love looking to meet the needs of others and, in so doing, he became the most loved man.

I miss my grandpa, though it has been many years since his passing.  Yet, I’m thankful that he truly demonstrated what a real man of God is all about, and I hope to someday find a man who will love me as my grandpa loved my grandma.  A real man of God is a man who has a heart that is capable of loving others in fullness. 

I pray that someday I am able to love others with that same magnitude of love, forgetting my own needs, and seeking to meet the needs of others.  In turn, perhaps I will also become the most loved through the love of Christ that I am able to share.  Of all purposes in life, this is the greatest purpose.  We all need to learn how to love.  Perhaps our journey of life is merely to teach us how to truly love others.  Some of us fail.  Hopefully, many of us pass.

“If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.”  (1 Corinthians 13)