Just some Thoughts

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We had a nasty hail storm last night right around dinnertime.

It had been raining on and off all day, and around 6:00 pm it got really dark again and the weather sirens started going off.  Sadly, those things have kinda become like the Boy Who Cried Wolf–used a little too often and so rarely noticed.

I asked my husband though to take a look at the radar just in case, and he said there was nothing major here, but that “way off west” there was some hail.

Me: “Should we move the furniture so we can get the car in the garage?”

Him: “Nah, I think it will be fine.”

Me: (Always the agreeable wife) “Are you sure? I think we should move it”

Him: “How?  There is no way we can fit the car in the garage”

Me: “Just watch”

So off to work we went, sliding furniture and all sorts of other junk up against the sides of the garage, as outside the garage door we started hearing the first few plink plink sounds of hail.

My husband ran out to our car, literally, right as the big hail started (I think a big chunk missed his head by like an inch) and managed to pull it into our packed-full garage with little room to spare.

And yes, I was thinking “I told you so!”

It was a solid 10 minutes of loud, pounding hail. My kids were scared. My mom is in town, and she was outside on the porch taking pictures–Ha!  My dog was freaking out, while my cat just sat there looking at the ceiling.  I took the opportunity to tell my kids this is one reason why we need to be thankful that God has given us a safe, warm house to live in.

The power went out, and shortly after that, the storm cell passed and the hail stopped. Nothing was damaged thankfully, its bark was worse than its bite.  It left our yard soaked though–giant puddles of standing water everywhere.

We went ahead and sat down for dinner since the drama was over.  A few minutes into eating, the sun actually came out, which really helped convince my kids the worst was over.

That’s when I looked out my big kitchen window and noticed it–birds everywhere.

All over our yard and our neighbor’s yard were birds, splashing in the puddles and digging up bugs and worms from the wet earth.  It was really fun to watch.

The outside went from dangerous, to life-giving in a span of 20 minutes.

 

 

I really prefer to look at the world in a pretty black and white way. I think it feels easier for me to control if I can clearly segregate things into a “Bad” and “Good” camp.

If I’m honest with myself, life is not always that clear-cut though.  There is a whole lotta gray in the circumstances that surround us.

Hail storm that knocks out our power for 3 hours?  Bad.

Hail storm that soaks the ground and causes a virtual feast of bugs and worms for the birds? Good.

After all, they have mouths to feed too, right?

 

 

I need to open myself up more and look for the good that comes in every event.  Even if there is hurt and suffering in something, there is another side of the coin where something good can be found.

It makes me think of this verse from the Bible:

I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But it if dies, it produces many seeds.   John 12:24

 

 

Seed Dying?  Bad.

Producing Many More Seeds?  Good.

What is going on in my life that I am desperately trying to label as Bad  . . . That in another light, may actually be a Good?

 

 

Maybe I need to give up a little bit more of the control I’m holding on to, and embrace more of the gray. Take in both the bad and the good, be open to both sides of the coin a little more.

Just some thoughts.