Life’s Storms and Sunshine: Finding Grace in the Chaos

Boy! Were you around to bear witness to the storm that came through yesterday! I was at church and driving home. The street flooding was horrendous! Reportedly in some places in the Monkey Junction area, there was at least 2.6 inches of rain that fell in what seems like an hour! There were moments when I thought I should pull over and wait it out. By the time I got home, it was wonderfully sunny with blue skies! Crazy! Just crazy!

But isn’t life like that? It throws curveballs at us and stops us in our tracks. Just when we think everything is going smoothly, another wrench is thrown into the spokes of the wheel. Sometimes it is a change in schedule, a new diagnosis, upsetting news, missing a scheduled appointment, and the list can go on and on. We all have had days like that! I know there have been many days when I have felt discombobulated and wish I could start my day over,

literally . . . crawl back into bed.

Sometimes, when I have days like that, I try to refocus. I try to step back and look at the bigger picture. I try to figure out what I have control over, and some days it is “none of it.” This perspective is usually accompanied by deep belly breaths. Sometimes the moment to regroup works and sometimes it doesn’t. When it does—it’s like the break in the rain, the blue skies and the sunshine. When it doesn’t—it’s like the gray low-lying clouds that continue to threaten with rain. It’s a day when I can tell myself that I need to just stay in the moment, breathe, and give myself some grace.

I pray that you might have more sunny days than rainy ones. May you find hope, love and grace in the storms of life.

Blessings,

Rev. Anne