Calm after the storm

Hurricane Irene has come and gone, and we all survived. We weren't directly in her path, but we did experience a portion of her wrath. In all honesty, I've never seen it rain so hard before. No one in our county was told to evacuate, but we did have flash flood warnings. The storm was supposed to hit sometime around midnight on Saturday night/ Sunday morning. I went to the grocery store on Saturday afternoon to pick up a gallon of milk, and a case of water just in case. Costco was packed. Some people had 3 or 4 shopping carts full of food. I've never seen anything like it. There's nothing like a flash flood warning to scare people into getting prepared. I am grateful that we have ample food storage, and we are not dependent on stocking up at the last minute. However, I do need to take another look at our 72hour kit. I would have been unprepared if we were told to evacuate. The stream that runs by our house did rise about 4 feet and nearly crested over. Although we were worried we would have flooding problems, we prayed that we would be protected, and ended up surviving the night completely dry. We are grateful for that.

Despite the terrible weather we had yesterday (the fierce wind and torrential rain), the weather today could not have been more perfect. On my morning walk, I began to contemplate the phrase calm after the storm. Although debris covered the roads, the weather today was beautiful, peaceful, calm. I couldn't help but relate that to the storms of life. When times are tough, we may feel like we are in the midst of a hurricane - that we will be flooded over and drowned in its depth. If we will turn to the Savior, the source of all peace, he will "protect" us and guide us through the storm. After the storm is over, we will feel that peace, the serenity, the calm and know that we are loved by our Heavenly Father.