It's coming!! It's coming!!

Well it better be coming. I have waited all week for today. Not because it is nice out but because any time now it won't be. The wind will be blowing, the rain will be coming down like sheets of water, the thunder will rumble and oh the lightning. The lightning will illuminate the sky.

It's the first severe weather of storm season. I am a Leitnaker, so of course, this is exciting. I love storms. I get that from my dad and his brothers. Watching a storm roll in is quite possible one of the most majestic things I have ever seen. Watching the sky go from light to dark and back to light.

Storms. Storms are much like our lives. We live in the light and the day to day of most days. We live with the blessings of our families, friends, co-workers, whatever you define as family. We live with what we have and attempt to be grateful for it and we live knowing that the very presence of God is with us all the time.

Yet the storms come. Grief, illness, addiction, cancer, loss of a job, etc... the storms happen. They happen every day to people all over the world and to people right in your neighborhood and maybe even to you. Storms are what make us stronger. They are what bring us closer to the light once again because as God promised, at the end of each storm is a rainbow; a covenant that life will go on, that you will be okay and that with the grace and love of God anything is possible.

Storms are what bring life to this world. The rain waters the ground that desperately needs it and the plants that we long to see blooming. The promise of new beginnings and growth in a world that needs it.

Where will you watch the storm tonight? Some of you may hunker down in the basement in fear of what the storm may bring and that is okay- storms are scary and often bring out anxiety and fear in us. Some of us will watch from the garage and hold onto the very thought of what is to come after. Wherever you watch the storm; just know God is with you hunkering down in the basement and walking right into it.

And if this turns out to be the next great flood; I am convinced that the boat my husband building has to be the next ark because the amount of time he spends on it is..well a lot. So of course God is talking to him and preparing him to be the next Noah :-)

Enjoy the weather, enjoy the storm. Embrace it, hold on to the knowledge of what is to come after. The light, the rainbow and the hope for a new tomorrow.

Blessings to all.

Ali