Storms Will Come.

Last week a big storm came through Charlotte. BIG. It was full of loud crashes of thunder, huge strikes of lightening and then...a very scary situation.

I didn't realize what had happened, but the power line directly in front of our house had been struck by lightening and the lines were now dangling through the air...sparks and all!

This of course was VERY loud and set off a glow around our house, one that we couldn't figure out right away what it was.

As the power faded, I quickly called all three girls into the room I was in and saw the look of panic upon their faces. Three girls....three VERY different reactions.

Taylor, the oldest, she is the practical one. She quickly blurted out, "Ok, Daddy told me that if there is a big lightening storm, the safest place to be is in the car!"

She's right, he did say that.

Hope, the middle girly, she's the spiritual one, her response was, "NO! We need to stop and pray RIGHT NOW!!!"

She's right too, so we stopped and prayed.

And then...there is the boo. Oh yes, sweet boo. In her very confused state she whispers to me, "Maybe Gowd is mad at us." (And yes, it's God, with a "w". She's southern, what would you expect?)

Leave it to the boo to always make me smile, even in the midst of chaos.

As the storm blew past, the power was returned, emotions were calmed and we settled back into our little home, I thought we were "over" it. But ya'll....DAY'S, DAY'S and DAY'S of discussion about this storm went on with these girls.

Every time they even saw a clue of a cloud in the sky, something on the news about rain or that overly annoying "This is a test of the emergency broadcasts system..", panic began to set into their faces. Their conversations were quickly returned to, "Remember what happened LAST TIME?"

It about drove me bonkers. :)

But I realized something the other day, God was clearly trying to show me something through these girls.

As I was driving down an interstate the other day, I saw a license plate that said: 89Hugo. (For those of you who don't know...Hugo was a huge hurricane that came through Charlotte twenty years ago!!)

I thought it was very odd that someone would put that on their license plate. Seriously!

Because, you see for the past few weeks, I have been in the midst of several storms. Ones that I don't care to talk about on this blog, but stuff that can turn your world around.

And just last week another cloud appeared and I began to panic, just like my girls. I was reminded of all the bad storms we had been through lately and prayed, "Lord, we can't take another hit like this."

Then I was reminded about something I said to my girls, not one of my finest moments. I was so sick of hearing about the storm, answering the questions and assuring them that we are fine, that one day I just blurted out, "QUIT TALKING ABOUT THE STORM....IT'S OVER!"

But it was as if the Lord was blowing my own words back into my face as I prayed one day about all this "stuff", it was like He said: "Nicki, that stuff is over, quit talking about it. Move on."

Ouch.

And then when I saw that license plate it was like He said, "Do you need to do that too? Put a license plate on your car so that the world knows you have been through a storm this week?"

Ouch again.

"He stilled the storm to a whisper; the waves of the sea were hushed." -Psalm 107:29

I know we are all in the midst of many trials and tribulations. Things that make us want to crawl up in our beds and never come back out. But in reality all it takes is a whisper. Just a whisper to the Lord.

What is a name, situation or even just a thought in your life that needs to be whispered to the mighty hands of our God?

We don't have to shout, to panic or, to think God is mad at us. We don't even need to go out and get the license plate to prove we are going through something or to have it as a constant reminder. He sees all, knows all and will calm all of it with a...whisper.

And so today, my bloggy friends, I am whispering my sweet mom's name into His ear.

Not in a panic way, and not in frightful way. Breast Cancer has arrived in her life but He is already hushing the waves.

I love you mom and it is an honor to whisper your name before the Lord. And I pray that everyone that reads this blog will do the same. Because you will fight this and you will overcome by the mighty name of our God. He will calm each of these waves, one by one.

This storm shall too.....pass.