The storm before the...

It rained yesterday. Big, buckets of rain. Lightning (at least we think it was lightning) struck a tree next to our driveway, and felled a huge branch that landed right between our van and our car (thank you Jesus!). The church's fellowship hall flooded (again), but on a bright note, the one place where we've had perennial leaks (around the vent hood) was dry, after many months of non-dry days. Back at home, our above-ground (with the little inflatable ring top) reached critical mass, and started to overflow (before I caught it; still a mess). And then, to top it off, we think a skunk somehow got either under our house, or sprayed into one of the crawlspace vents, or something, because our whole house smelled like skunk when I came home for lunch yesterday. And to top it all off, Brett Favre got traded to the Jets. ENOUGH ALREADY!

As is usual, if there was a calm before this storm, I missed it. But sometimes, when I feel like I'm just moving from storm to storm with little or no calm in between, I have a moment of clarity, reminding me that I am POWERLESS over these things, and can only be responsible for how I respond to these things. I can respond with frustration and anger, or disappointment and sadness, or any combination, OR...I can acknowledge that I am NOT in control, and confess my faults for ever thinking I was. I really think that God sees us juggling, and just keeps chucking balls into the fray as if to say, "you think you're tougher than me, eh?" until we can't keep it all in the air any more, and we HAVE to drop everything and look to Him. And it's these moments that I am reminded once again that I am a passenger on this journey, and am working still on the grateful part...