The winds came up quickly, swirling around our house. As branches dropped onto the grass outside, our lights started flickering.
I called for our sons, and they came running.
There’s something about a storm that makes you want to be close together, feeling the safety of company, the certainty of knowing that the people you love are with you.
We turned the lights down so they wouldn’t go off quickly and scare our pet birds, and my sons started playing a game not far from the birdcages. I was so relieved when my husband arrived safely home, and we were all in the same place.
It was a strange and harsh storm, and as we walked outside afterward, I knew we were luckier than many who lost power and sustained damage. The rumbles of thunder faded away and the sirens stopped.
We always look outside for a rainbow, and we had checked the sky earlier with no luck. But as the skies continued to clear and fill with a surreal light, there it was—a rainbow stretching across our street, spanning the neighborhood with its color and beauty.
A rainbow always feels like a miracle. This one appeared in the sky as the last light of the day was peeking through, while drops of summer rain were falling gently on the branches and leaves that were strewn everywhere. The rainbow came as one of those marvelous reminders that weather can attack and caress, weather can fume and calm, weather can encumber and help.
A storm brings fear and anxiety—and maybe even a little excitement, which we experienced as we watched the clouds speeding through the sky during the most intense moments.
But at the end, even when the storm leaves damage and destruction, there is quiet and stillness. There is hope and peace and a promise of tomorrow. Sometimes there’s even a rainbow, a reminder from God that calm comes after chaos, that beauty comes after brokenness, and that He is with us through all of it, through the storm and the sunshine.
Please join me in praying for all who were affected by the storms.
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