I had read reports of another massive storm about to hit Cape Town. Be careful to batten down the hatches and brace yourself for an onslaught of inclement weather. We did just that. The wind blew, but there was not much of a massive storm and while there was rain, it didn’t seem to be a deluge of note. It seemed to be big wind, little storm.
And that so reminded me of life.
When I was in Durban recently, I walked into a coffee shop just as a waitress came around the corner with 4 or 5 coffee mugs on a tray. Something happened and they all went flying… through the air and towards the floor – one after the other hit the deck, spun and rolled. Everyone gasped. What a mess.
Only there wasn’t. Not one broke!
Sometimes it all looks ominous. We expect the worst. We see a catastrophe. We gasp and get all hyped up. Stress and tension are the order of the day.
And nothing terrible happens after all.
It’s all okay.
What a relief!
Big Wind, Little Storm.
Sometimes some wonderfully good things come out of a stormy season.
One of the most irritating times of my life was when I was 14 years old and got dropped back a year in school. That meant instead of leaving school at 17, I would leave at 18. It was very, very annoying and exceedingly disappointing. It was all as a result of my own laziness. I had earned it. It was my fault, but I was still very disappointed. It was a stormy, horrible season.
Dropping down a stream resulted in a few slight changes in my subjects. I ended up taking typing for 2 terms. Typing. Yes. On a traditional type-writer.
Picture from www.machinesoflovinggrace.com
For 2/3 of the year, I went to typing lessons and pounded away at the little green keys, making mistakes, doing drills and at the end of it all, typing an exam.
Two terms of the school year, back in 1979, this stormy season of my life resulted in a brilliant skill that I continue to use for a number of hours a day, almost every single day of my life.
What a wonderful gift touch-typing has been for me.
Thank you Lord for organising that – for ensuring I got into a typing class and so today I type with all 10 fingers and not just 2!
The one year extra at school did no harm. It all worked out perfectly.
God had my back. He knew what was ahead. He knew where my skill set lay. He had a plan through all of my storm-filled worries.
And He still does.
Mark 4:39
And He got up and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Hush, be still.” And the wind died down and it became perfectly calm.
He allows the storms and sees us through to the other side.
These are the days.
Keep the smile going.
God bless you!
In His Grip,
Helga xx 🙂