Storms

One of our greatest tests is to see if we are able to bless someone else while we're going through our own storm.  This keeps popping back up in my head lately.  My life has changed so much.  I'm learning to really embrace it and search for the meaning instead of complaining about the change.  Storms come and go.  Whether they shake you to the core and leave wreckage in their wake or they are calm and leave you feeling relaxed, one thing remains the same.  They cleanse. 
A good cleanse is necessary every now and then.  It makes you feel refreshed, lighter, more clear.  The challenge is to see through whatever wreckage or debris that might be left behind from your most recent storm and turn it into a blessing (or lesson.)  Either one is fine.


It's no easy task to look outside of your own mess and try to bless someone else.  That's about the most selfless you could possibly be.  I can't say I've practiced this particular skill more than a few times in my life.  Usually, I'd have a pity party, cry, complain, whine some more, then ask God, "WHY ME?" Wrap all that up with a big ol' box of self loathing and ungratefulness and there was my typical reaction to rocking my boat.  DO NOT mess with my bubble.  I couldn't handle it.  Until... I had no other choice but to practice "handling" it.  You mess around and have this many changes within a couple years, you had better get really good at "handling" it.  Otherwise, you have purposely refused to grow and learn and done even more damage than the storm itself. 


Do you know what they key was for me?  It was finally realizing and accepting that I AM NOT IN CONTROL.  Never have been.  That's a pretty hard pill to swallow for someone who likes to be in control.  I have lived my entire life believing that it ALL was up to me.  Now don't misunderstand me, please.  I'm not saying that if God places a mountain in front of you that you won't need to pick up a shovel.  You are going to have to put in some work to go along with that faith of yours.  But He is able.  He is SO able to make the changes in your life turn into huge huge blessings.  If you just let Him.


I've been in a lot of storms.  As a child, I had no idea what to do about them or how to process.  That's kindof the outcome of parents not dealing with their own storms.  As an adult, most of my storms I had a lot to do with creating myself. I was always told, "Never depend on anybody.  Never let your guard down, because you'll just get hurt.  Never stick your neck out because people will just take advantage."  That advice rang true for many situations, but still there was no lesson from it.  I would just get mad and have my little pity party again.  I never truly learned how to graciously ride out a storm and take something good out of it.  I'm still learning now, but at least I'm beginning to see the light. 


There are a few storms still going on right now that haven't decided to make their way on out of here just yet. Some small, some big.  But you know what, it's totally fine.  Because I am not finished finding out what I need to learn from them yet.  I can see the sky starting to lighten.  The rain has slowed down. The thunder is off in the distance.  But it's still lingering until I can figure out how to use this as a blessing.  Whether it be to myself or someone else, I know I need to use this as a teaching moment.  When it's all over and the sun comes out again, I feel confident that I can stand and say that I handled it with grace and love and that if nothing else, I learned from it and was able to bless someone else.