Summer Storm

I have always loved storms. They have never really scared me. There's something about them that is actually peaceful and calming. And humbling too.

One of my favorite storm memories is from a backpacking trip in Alaska. We were getting ready to cross a river but had to stop because a storm popped up and the river was rising and quickening faster than we could get across. We each found a perch to wait it out. The lightning was straight out of a mythological legend of an angry Zeus. The thunder was shaking the earth and knocking boulders loose into the water. I should have been terrified. But it was amazing. I was in awe. I couldn't help but marvel at how teeny tiny I was, helpless in the hand of One who is bigger and greater then I can even comprehend. But I was getting this glimpse of Him and suddenly remembered the words to a song...My Lord is near me all the time.

I have a new favorite storm memory. It's a little less dramatic.

While on the back porch under a tin roof, we felt the wind pick up.



And watched the clouds roll in.



And the rain start hitting the deck.



And then it came on down.



Thunder boomed and lightning cracked all around us. I was holding my sweet baby girl. She wasn't scared. She never even flinched. Eyes wide and in my arms, she just took it all in. I am thankful she feels the same peace and calm that I do, even in the midst of a storm.

And that same song from the Alaskan valley, was in my head again. This time I got to sing it to Lucy.

In the lightning flash across the sky
His mighty pow’r I see,
And I know if He can reign on high,
His light can shine on me.

I’ve seen it in the lightning, heard it in the thunder,
And felt it in the rain;
My Lord is near me all the time,
My Lord is near me all the time.

When the thunder shakes the mighty hills
And trembles ev’ry tree,
Then I know a God so great and strong
Can surely harbor me.

I’ve seen it in the lightning, heard it in the thunder,
And felt it in the rain;
My Lord is near me all the time,
My Lord is near me all the time.

When refreshing showers cool the earth
And sweep across the sea,
Then His rainbow shines within my heart,
His nearness comforts me.

I’ve seen it in the lightning, heard it in the thunder,
And felt it in the rain;
My Lord is near me all the time,
My Lord is near me all the time.