As we set out on our boat there was no storm in the forecast at all. It seemed like it would be the perfect lake day.
That evening at the end of our beautiful day, we noticed the sky was changing. We suddenly saw the storm coming. It looked wild, like it was out of a movie.
It wasn’t like how it normally is where we see a dark cloud and think oh we’ll just go around or go the other way. It was nothing but endless darkness. The only way to get back to our car was to go straight through it.
Then suddenly we hear the loudest thunder I’ve ever heard and there were zig zag lightening strikes all over the sky. You could see them hitting the water and it looked so intense and fierce.
My seven year old made a fort under her dad’s chair with towels and hid under there with her stuffed animals. My four year old was in my lap hiding under a towel because the rain was pouring on us. There was so much rain that it was stinging.
My four year old looked up at me while we were both under the towel and said “mommy I’m scared”. I lifted the towel off of us for a moment and told her to look at the storm. She poked her head out and looked as it was crashing and booming all around us. I asked her “Do you see how BIG God is?” She replied “yeah!” Then I said “can you see how powerful and strong God is?”
Then I said “guess what? God is on YOUR side, and he made you to face the storm. You look at it and know you have nothing to be afraid of”. Then her demeanor changed as she said “look how beautiful the storm is”. Then it was like something shifted on our boat.
It was so cool seeing her look that storm in the face with confidence. I watched and sealed the sight in my mind as she stood there, looking around, lightning striking all around her. It gave me chills because she’s always been my fierce girl. I told her “you have a hedge of protection around you. You have a calling on your life. He’s not going to take us out now baby he has a very important plan for our lives.”
I haven’t been caught in a storm that tough ever. It was a very wild storm and we didn’t see it coming. I hope my girls remember that my husband and I weren’t afraid and that we knew God was on our side, that we felt his divine protection. I hope my fierce girl always faces the storms of her life head on with a confidence that God can get her through anything, no matter how scared she is.
Even though sometimes we have no choice but to go straight through a storm we didn’t see coming, we can face it with the confidence and faith that God will carry us through.