preparing for the storm
I live in Texas. I know we are a proud lot, and rightfully so! Every now and then a great friend of mine will send me memes or sayings about Texas. They are always accurate and make us look better than most or that is what we tell ourselves. We love to kid everyone that thinks they have a better state than us. Seriously though, I am making fun, I do love Texas.
One of the things about where I live is we don’t really get bad weather. We get thunderstorms but in my years of growing up I have learned to love them. We do get wind that can be bad, but I don’t live where we really get tornados, although, they can happen anywhere around me. I don’t live where there is snow…until now. We lived in Texas for 7 years back in the early 2000’s. Mark and I lived in Irving, and our 2 youngest daughters were born then. I only remember one time of getting snow and it was Thanksgiving of 1993. The snow only stayed around a few hours so no big deal. It was a Thanksgiving to remember. Fast forward to 2021 and we were stuck in Colorado during the storm that hit so hard that January/February, so I wasn’t here. Meg and I have moved to the DFW area in December of that year. We did have a big freeze in January 2022 but again, the snow only stayed around for a few hours. Over the last 3 years, nothing to speak of with weather, for the winter at least. Fast forward even more to this past week and weekend. The weatherman kept saying to prepare for a major snow/ice storm that would last several days. Now, I have lived here long enough to think it may or may not happen. At least not last for several days. But I prepared anyway. I got extra firewood for my fireplace, salt for my sidewalks, made sure I had gas for my generator, food and drinks for the next several days if we had to be in, made sure all the outdoor water faucets were covered, opened the cabinets under the sinks, ran the water in the sink to keep the waterpipes from freezing, filled a bathtub with water, charged up all the portable chargers and I am sure there was more. I was prepared! Friday night came and when we woke up Saturday morning, we had a layer of snow. Now, again, it had only lasted a few hours in the past so I was thinking it would be gone soon. NO! It started sleeting and did that all day along with snow. The temps dropped into the single digits with wind chills below 0. OK that is cold! It is now Thursday and there is still snow on the ground. Can you believe it! Yesterday we finally got above freezing since last Friday night. I am in the process of trying to dig out my sidewalk to I can go get my mail, but it isn’t a fast process. Nor am I an expert of shoveling snow but I am so glad I prepared.
I have asked myself why do I wait till the storm is coming to prepare? Shouldn’t I always be prepared? Yes, I should. When we lived in California, we always had an emergency bag with stuff in it and water stored in case of an earthquake. I do have an emergency bag here in case I needed to leave fast but that wasn’t enough for this storm. I will make sure I am always prepared for the storm coming, as much as I can.
I am prepared now for the storms outside but what about the storms inside? Not storms inside our house, because that would be disastrous. I am talking about the storms inside us. Storms we may face like loss of a job, health, car accident, loss of a spouse, parent, or child, a friendship lost, financial loss, etc. I know how important it is to stay prepared for the incoming storms outside, but I believe it is more important to prepare for the storms that happen in and to us. How do we do that? For me, the answer is simple. I try to keep my relationship with the Lord where it needs to be.
I pray without ceasing. I Thessalonians 5: 16-18 Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
I study my Bible. Joshua 1:8 This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.
I keep fellowship with believers. Hebrews 10: 24-25 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.
I trust in Him. Isaiah 26:3-4 You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord God is an everlasting rock.
Now, do I do these perfectly? No. But I am working on it. I have a plan for how I am going to study my Bible more this year. Praying is probably the easiest thing for me, now. Maybe it isn’t for you. It used to be harder for me but as I have gotten older and maybe a bit wiser, I realize it is talking to the Lord like I am writing this to you. It is just having daily and sometimes hourly conversation with the One who knows and loves me best. The One who always has the answer, even if it isn’t the answer I want. I am in a community group with my church and love attending. It hasn’t been easy to find one, but I think I finally have. When I make sure I am doing all of these things and the storms come I have a trust in the Lord that no matter what, He will get me through it. I have faced storms in the past and with the Lord, and I have weathered them. Sometimes well and sometimes not. I want to always be vigilant in making sure I am prepared for whatever storm is coming. Outside and inside!
