Today is the calm before the storm at my house.
Today things are pretty normal at my house for a Thursday during the Spring. Abby is at dance class, Lisa is mowing and I am hacking away on the laptop trying to tie up some loose ends from this week's work load. Before everybody jumps up and begins yelling about my wife mowing let me give you a quick explanation. My wife is the text book example of OCD when it comes to taking care of the house. Not only does it have to be done right but it has to be done her way. This goes for moping, bed making, dusting, vacuuming, and even yard mowing. She likes to mow and she likes the yard mowed in a certain way. I have tried to mow it her way but it isn't up to her standards even if it looks the same way it would have if she mowed it. So as I tell couples who are about to get married, not every battle is worth fighting. So while she is outside mowing I will put my apron on and have supper ready for her when she finishes. She will clean the kitchen because of course I wouldn't clean it right. So tonight is a normal calm Thursday evening.
Tomorrow however will not be a calm Friday and Saturday will be everything but calm because it
is our 12th annual dance recital. My goal for this weekend as it has been the past eleven years is to stay out of the way and survive. When Lisa comes in the door tomorrow after work the storm hits. If I know what is good for me I will have my check list complete meaning I will have picked up Abby from school, have a cooler full of ice, put new batteries in the camera, and have on whatever was laying on the bed for me to wear. I will find a place to hide and watch the well organized storm hit.
It begins in the bathroom during the hair and makeup session. There will be hair bows and bobby pins flying everywhere. Four hands will be applying makeup to the same face at the same time. Both my girls will be spraying hairspray at the same time creating a huge cloud of hairspray that will float around the house for days.I have learned to remove my toothbrush from the bathroom because the cloud of hairspray will leave a nasty taste on your toothbrush. Then comes the rush to get dressed and out the door we go to the Comma in Morganton. The storm doesn't calm there because there are costumes changes, hair repairs and makeup touchups to be done. My job is to sit in my seat and take pictures. After dress rehearsal the storm usually moves to Zaxby's. It is a different kind of storm there. Many girls go there after rehearsal and all of them try to pile into one of the circular booths while all the parents try to find a seat anywhere they can. There is lots of laughter, selfies, and status updating during this storm.
Then comes Saturday. It is a repeat of Friday except with 1000 times more intensity. My role changes. I am now in charge of getting the tickets handed out, bringing the trophy and flowers in, getting a head count of who is going to eat afterwards and holding whatever else I am told to hold. After four or five hours at the Comma on Friday and three or four more on Saturday the storm slowly dissolves. When we are finally seated at Olive Garden we all can take a deep breath and know that we have 364 more days until the next storm hits. So tonight I enjoy the calm before the storm.
I have often wondered why there is a calm before the storm. The best explanation I have come up with is the calm gives us time to prepare. Just like when a hurricane is about to hit the coast everyone there is encouraged to use this time to board up windows, tie down anything that will blow away, and in some cases pack up and leave. Those who use this time wisely survive the hurricane with little to no damage but those who waste that time often see their lawn chairs flying down the road as they look out the hole in their window. You know the storm is coming so why not use the calm to prepare for the storm?
Christians are sometimes the most guilty when it comes to not using the calm to prepare for the storm. I am not talking about hurricanes or dance recitals but the storms of life. I have heard 9842 Christians say, "Everything was going fine and then BOOM it all fell apart." I find myself in that number too. When things are going good we should use that time to prepare for the storm by spending time with our nose in Bible, on our knees praying, with our ears listening to God and our eyes wide open looking for the storm on the horizon. Instead we spend the calm talking about the last storm while saying things like, "If I knew that was coming I would have..." and "I know another storm is coming so I will enjoy the calm while it lasts." In the meantime God is trying to communicate with us to warn about upcoming storm. He is trying to draw us to Him so He can provide the protection, strength, guidance and courage we are going to need. Now as soon as the storm hits we try to prepare for it but it is too late. Now we have storm damage and the storm is still raging. That is when we turn to God and ask Him where He was when the storm hit. He shakes His head and says, "I was right here with My arms open wide waiting for you even before the storm came."
So Christians it doesn't matter if we are in the valley in the middle of a storm or on the mountain top experiencing a spiritual high we should be looking toward God. We remember Him in the middle of the storm but we should also remember Him during the calm. That way we can build our foundation on the solid Rock and not the shifting sand. Who wants their house on shifting sand? Can you imagine how hard it would be to fry bacon in a house built on shifting sand? I can see the whole pan hitting the floor. Then I would have to find my wife to clean it up because of course I couldn't do it good enough. Just like we can't clean up the messes we make in life good enough. We need God to clean it up. So in good times and bad seek the Lord.
Parting Thought: Today is the day the Lord hath made. I will rejoice and be glad in it, even if it happens to be a Monday.
Tomorrow however will not be a calm Friday and Saturday will be everything but calm because it
It begins in the bathroom during the hair and makeup session. There will be hair bows and bobby pins flying everywhere. Four hands will be applying makeup to the same face at the same time. Both my girls will be spraying hairspray at the same time creating a huge cloud of hairspray that will float around the house for days.I have learned to remove my toothbrush from the bathroom because the cloud of hairspray will leave a nasty taste on your toothbrush. Then comes the rush to get dressed and out the door we go to the Comma in Morganton. The storm doesn't calm there because there are costumes changes, hair repairs and makeup touchups to be done. My job is to sit in my seat and take pictures. After dress rehearsal the storm usually moves to Zaxby's. It is a different kind of storm there. Many girls go there after rehearsal and all of them try to pile into one of the circular booths while all the parents try to find a seat anywhere they can. There is lots of laughter, selfies, and status updating during this storm.
I have often wondered why there is a calm before the storm. The best explanation I have come up with is the calm gives us time to prepare. Just like when a hurricane is about to hit the coast everyone there is encouraged to use this time to board up windows, tie down anything that will blow away, and in some cases pack up and leave. Those who use this time wisely survive the hurricane with little to no damage but those who waste that time often see their lawn chairs flying down the road as they look out the hole in their window. You know the storm is coming so why not use the calm to prepare for the storm?
Christians are sometimes the most guilty when it comes to not using the calm to prepare for the storm. I am not talking about hurricanes or dance recitals but the storms of life. I have heard 9842 Christians say, "Everything was going fine and then BOOM it all fell apart." I find myself in that number too. When things are going good we should use that time to prepare for the storm by spending time with our nose in Bible, on our knees praying, with our ears listening to God and our eyes wide open looking for the storm on the horizon. Instead we spend the calm talking about the last storm while saying things like, "If I knew that was coming I would have..." and "I know another storm is coming so I will enjoy the calm while it lasts." In the meantime God is trying to communicate with us to warn about upcoming storm. He is trying to draw us to Him so He can provide the protection, strength, guidance and courage we are going to need. Now as soon as the storm hits we try to prepare for it but it is too late. Now we have storm damage and the storm is still raging. That is when we turn to God and ask Him where He was when the storm hit. He shakes His head and says, "I was right here with My arms open wide waiting for you even before the storm came."
So Christians it doesn't matter if we are in the valley in the middle of a storm or on the mountain top experiencing a spiritual high we should be looking toward God. We remember Him in the middle of the storm but we should also remember Him during the calm. That way we can build our foundation on the solid Rock and not the shifting sand. Who wants their house on shifting sand? Can you imagine how hard it would be to fry bacon in a house built on shifting sand? I can see the whole pan hitting the floor. Then I would have to find my wife to clean it up because of course I couldn't do it good enough. Just like we can't clean up the messes we make in life good enough. We need God to clean it up. So in good times and bad seek the Lord.
Parting Thought: Today is the day the Lord hath made. I will rejoice and be glad in it, even if it happens to be a Monday.
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