Joy in the Morning

May 16, 2013

Dear Readers,

My morning yesterday was filled with puppy love and looking forward to relaxing on a drizzly cloudy day.  My evening was filled with anxiousness with all the storm warnings filling the TV screen.  We were fortunate to have sustained only wind and heavy rain.  Others just miles northwest of us weren't so lucky.

I stayed up late listening to the storm updates in the counties hit by tornadoes.  It was so dark and impossible to assess the damage, loss of life, and injuries.  Granbury was requesting all available ambulances and first responders to head for their small city reporting "multiple casualties."  A mile wide tornado was reported heading for Cleburne and I was frantically praying that it would lift over the city.  Praise God, it did and there weren't any fatalities there.  This morning, Granbury reported 6 deaths, 7 missing, and over 200 treated for injuries.

What is it really like being in the center of a storm that can wipe you off the face of the earth?  There have been many different people interviewed; some, have been very emotional.  I've never been in a tornado like that but I felt their helplessness.  Like the fertilizer plant explosion in West, the first plan of action was SURVIVAL!  Some from the Granbury area described the scene as horrific ... the walking wounded were bloodied and in shock.

Are we ever really prepared for the storms in our lives that are beyond our control?  I doubt it.  We can think we are prepared; but, in reality, when the world around us is suddenly leveled and we're standing there with only the clothes on our backs, what do we do?  When the fertilizer plant exploded in West, those survivors began to band together to help one another.  When the tornadoes hit in Granbury and Cleburne, survivors began to band together to help one another.  Same with the bombing at the Boston Marathon.

That bonding of "together we can make it" makes me feel good.  The t-shirts that say, "I survived the ________ in ______," take on a special meaning to those who wear them.  As we survive various trials, there is a sense of thankfulness that comes no matter how much was lost.  I have written in the inside cover of one of my most read Bibles, "Thank you for the hard times."  I meant that because in those times, I have grown the most.

"Comfort and prosperity have never enriched the world

 as much as adversity has."

~~Billy Graham

When I had to literally run from my big house in a prestigious part of North Texas in 2002, I was in shock.  I could only put one foot in front of the other and do what I was told.  I lived in a shelter with other women and children and, strangely enough, it was okay.  We shared a common thread and we wanted to help each other survive.  Actually, we didn't only want each other to survive, we wanted to help each other thrive!!  As for me, it meant starting over.  I praised God and danced in my tiny apartment.  My time there was one of the happiest of my life.  I had my Pomeranian, Khelsea, a job I loved, and time to regroup.

Psalm 30:5 says, "... weeping may stay for the night,

but rejoicing comes in the morning."

There is joy in the morning after the dreaded storms of life.  Don't you know that those folks in Cleburne rejoiced at daybreak knowing their loved ones were safe?  Don't you know those folks in Granbury grabbed their families and friends and hugged them tightly?  Those that lost loved ones are struggling, I am sure.  For them, their joy will take time to return ... with the Lord to lean on, it will.

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy and

my burden is light."

~~Matthew 11:28-30

There are many who have had their faith tested in the storms of life.  Those unfair moments, those trials, those dreaded storms can either make us bitter or better.  We are free to choose!  I will tell you this:  If you choose to be bitter, you might become so wrapped up in the wrong that you can't enjoy the gift of the present.  Wouldn't you rather stand up, grieve the injustice, and move on?  That, my Readers, is my hope for you.  I remember the day so vividly when I stood up, looked at the heavens and said, "God, this wasn't fair and it wasn't what I signed up for; BUT I will not allow this situation to steal one more moment of my peace.  Besides, you have promised to restore what the locust has eaten (Joel 2:25).  Amen"

Always remember you are loved and prayed for AND that joy does come in the morning!

Miss Dottie

PS  "When you come out of the storm, you won't be the same person who walked in.  That's what this storm's all about."  ~~Haruki Murakami  That's for sure!!