The storm rolled in quicker than most and made sure to display its power. As the sirens sounded and threatened us into a mild panic, we took cover in the bathroom and waited with uncertainty about what was to come. It was the first time that we had to take cover from the power of a storm at the behest of the sirens and although we all worried a little, our faces showed nothing but confidence in the build quality of our home.

It is amazing how safe one can feel hiding out in a bathroom from severe weather. Unavoidably, I have done some thinking about the storm over the days since and have been both comforted and (to be quite honest) concerned about my thoughts. I have been thinking that if God had decided that that storm was the way He was going to take the lives of my family and I, that there would be no bathroom or shelter that could keep us safe from the storm.

It wouldn’t matter how thick the concrete walls of our shelter, the storm would get us, and we would die. That’s all there is to it. If God has decided that today is the day that I will die, there is no getting around it. There is no shelter that can save us from the will of God. So that’s the thought the has filled me with a healthy bit of concern. I wouldn’t say that I’m worried that God will send a storm to kill me, but that I have a healthy and holy understanding that I am, ultimately, not in control of my life. No matter what I do or how hard I work, I can not thwart the power and will of God.

But, accepting that thought (as I have for years, but am constantly reminded of) also fills me with a confidence that far out paces the security of concrete. If nothing I do can save me from His will, and the weather and all things obey Him, then I can be assured that I will not die until He wants me to. In other words, because God is sovereign over everything, I can not die until He wants me to. No one or no thing can kill me outside the will of God. So as I am living, God wants me alive and when my time is up, there is nothing than can be done to keep me from our heavenly encounter.

So the next time I am startled awake to the sounds of a screeching siren and severe weather at 4am, I can be confident that no matter if safety wins out (as it did this time) or calamity, I am eternally safe in the hands of my creator and sustainer. No matter if death comes from storms or disease or age I am safe with Jesus. And when my savior calls me home all of the fears and false securities of this life will die with my body and not follow me into paradise.

Kris and I had more fun than Jeff and Clark-E though as the games went in our favor 3 to 1.  I got to use my new Camo which was really cool.  I got what’s called MultiCam, it is kind of like a combination of all the regular patterns so that you can have one set of camouflage no matter where you play (rather than buying three different patterns for the different environments).  It’s a really cool idea and it seemed to help out a lot.

The rain and thunder was a really neat distraction to play in as it covered you movement and allowed you to approach on the enemy more easily.  Anyway, it was a lot of fun and it was really wet, but you can count on the fact that we will do it again.  And that we will do it in more extreme weather conditions (yes, I know that rain is not an extreme condition, but just wait for the next hurricane that makes it up here).

Anyway, Alina is just opposite of me when it comes to what we are capable of ignoring as we sleep. And last night, as during most of the thunderstorms that we experience here, her thunderstorm hysteria began to kick in.  I think she is afraid that any run of the mill thunderstorm will turn into an F5 tornado like in Twister and begin to destroy everything and send cows and semi trucks flying through the sky.

Last night though was a little different in that there where a few lighting bolts that hit pretty close to our house, and managed to wake me up to my wife’s panic (I usually sleep right through it as her worries thunder through the room).  But not last night.  I was awake.  And, as I lay on the bed wondering if I needed to get up to check the weather a bolt of lighting lit up our room and shook the house with it’s immediate thunder.  It felt as though the house had been hit.

Our bathroom door was partly open and the lights were off, and it was dark.  Well, that is until the lighting hit and the bathroom began to rapidly pulse with red light that looked to be fire.  Alina jumped out of bed and was through the bathroom door in milliseconds.  Only to discover that Rachael’s toothbrush with red lights in it that responds to being shaken had also not liked the thunder.  Stupid toothbrush.  We thought the house was on fire and it was just a blinking instrument of oral hygiene. 

You know what the worst part about the whole thing is though?  It was kind of like crying wolf.  I thought a blinking red toothbrush was fire.  I just hope that if our house ever did get hit by lightning I would not assume it was a toothbrush and fall back to sleep, turning on the fan because of the uncomfortable heat in the room.  That would be bad.

To make the freeze more difficult, Alina was without a car for most of the week (because of her thinking her Altima was an offroad vehicle). We did get the car back yesterday and it is starting to dry off, I’m sure it will be in the 60′s or 70′s in the next few days. This Texas weather is strange.