"I wanna see that thunder roll..."

We've had some incredible thunder storms in the past few days. Yesterday I curled up in our apartment and watched the huge storm clouds roll across the sky. It's a pretty AWESOME sight to behold. I love thunder storms for a number of reasons.

First, as I was walking/swimming home from work yesterday, I realized that no matter how lost in thought you might be, when it thunders it grabs your attention. It reminds me how big God is. It gave me new found perspective. Here I was lost in thought about something and God took time to remind me.. " Hey! You know I'm bigger than that thing you are consumed with worrying about." Pretty cool.

Secondly, some of my happiest memories with my Dad happened during thunderstorms when I was little. Every time we would have a big thunderstorm, I was allowed(it was an unspoken rule... well at least in my mind) to get out of bed and find my Dad. I remember many a Summer evening on the front porch of the house that I grew up in. I would sit for what seemed like hours, safe and secure in my Daddy's arms watching the show. We would talk about how powerful God is and how the lightning was like God's fireworks, but mostly, I would just rest in my Daddy's arms. One time lightning even hit directly in our front yard as we watched, but I never felt fear, because I was snuggled in my Daddy's arms. I've never been afraid of thunder storms because of those happy moments.

Hillsong United has a new song on their latest album called "You Hold Me Now". The song is so powerful and it reminds me of the picture that I described above. You see, it's a given that there will be storms in life. Sickness happens, finances vary and we don't always understand why things happen.* Storms can beat us up... I think at times we can be so beat up by storms, that even in the midst of sunnier days, we live in fear of the next storm. If we choose to stay close in the arms of our Daddy God, we don't have to fear the storms. In fact, we can look at them as bringing positive change in our lives. Have you ever noticed that some of the most beautiful and clear weather is after a storm? And of course, the best puddle jumping comes after a storm.

p.s. For whatever reason, I've got " I wanna see that thunder roll" a la " I wanna see that tootsie roll" stuck in my head... I'm creative like that... if you don't know what I'm referring too... better for you... if you do, I'm not recommending the song... well at least not the original version.


*If you do, I'd like to know the answer.