And the Thunder Rolls

One of my children is TERRIFIED of lightning. My oldest, Ben, has had this fear since he was a toddler. He would wake up from naps or even in the night when storms rolled through and the thunder billowed in the distance. There were many nights that I would be awakened by a huge clap of thunder in the middle of the night and my feet would instantly hit the floor and head immediately toward his room to check on him. Most of those nights we met in the hallway halfway between his room and mine. He is good now at laughing his fear off even though it is still very real for him. He knows that the odds of lightning harming you when you are inside your house are slim. But still, the fear. We had our first decent thunderstorm roll through on Saturday evening. Now, you have to understand . . . I am a bad weather junkie. I love storms and storm clouds. The darker and more threatening, the better. I am sure there is a word for what I am. Besides weird. Haha. I digress. Anyway, Saturday night I saw a huge flash of lightning after it was completely dark. It swallowed the lights on the street lamps as it flashed brighter than they were shining. It illuminated the surrounding trees, cars, houses, and even a couple people outside standing on the front sidewalk; all of those things unseen until that flash. A couple thoughts entered my mind when I saw that flash. First thing was how even if you’re expecting it, lightning and thunder can startle you. Second thing was that it illuminates things you may not have noticed otherwise. 

It isn’t necessarily the lightning, but the thunder that gets us. We see the flash and that in itself doesn’t cause a startle reaction. We KNOW the thunder is coming yet still sometimes it makes us jump. Other times, you see the flash and hear the thunder almost simultaneously. And it really does catch us off guard. Everything in life is part of a cause and effect relationship. If “this”, then “that”. If I eat too much, then I gain weight. If I stop working out, then I fall out of shape. If I get caught driving too fast, then I get a ticket. If I misbehaved when I was growing up, then punishment was guaranteed. Thunder and lightning is no different. If lightning, then thunder. 

Sometimes, lightning can happen in our lives because it is meant to illuminate something for us. No, not literal lightning. I mean there are times when things happen in bright flashes of activity. But sometimes, it is meant to cause us to see something. A path; a way; a blessing; an opportunity, even. Maybe the lightning is a call to action. The thunder is what scares us though. The lightning in our life can cause us to see things we wouldn’t have otherwise noticed or looked for. And even though we know the lightning is revealing our next step or our path, we know the thunder will follow. The thunder sometimes is quiet and subdued and really is no big deal. Other times, though, that clap is rattling. LITERALLY. When the thing the lightning reveals to us is BIG, the effect of that lightning will be equally big, loud, and sometimes terrifying. We are at a crossroads. Do we take this new revelation by the hand and let it lead us where we are to go? Or do we cower back into the shadows of certainty and let the storm pass by? 

Sometimes, the lightning is so bright that it washes out the surrounding darkness and even the light. Have you ever seen a flash of lightning so close and so bright in the middle of a dark night that you are temporarily blinded by the light? We used to go to church in a tiny town called Woodrow here in Colorado. It is about 20 miles (30 minute drive) from our house and there is nothing but a lot of farmland and a few farm houses and outbuildings tucked back off the road between here and there. And when it is dark, IT IS DARK. I was driving home one night in the middle of a storm. A bolt of lightning appeared and was so bright it washed out the darkness and the faint lights from any houses and floodlights in the distance. When it was gone I couldn’t see anything. For a few seconds, I was scared. I was aware of where I was on the road and familiar enough with that road to know to just hold steady and I’d be all right. 

We can’t let the fear of the unknown and the threat of the inevitable thunder stop us from doing what we need to do; what we are called to do. It can’t steal our purpose. We tell our boys all the time that every single person is just one bad decision away from ruining the rest of their life. And that is so true. We see it happen all the time. I think that the opposite is also true. Every person is just one good decision from changing and impacting their life and the lives of others for the better! The decision, of course, has to be prayed over and vetted and made with all facts in evidence. I had no idea when I started this journey toward my best health and self where it was going to take me. Some wonderful thunder has happened as a result. I fell in with a fantastic company with fantastic leadership, corporate and in the field. These people have become mentors and spiritual and life partners in addition to the business. I have been transformed physically, emotionally and even spiritually. And really good financial gains have been made. And some great things are yet to come. (Stay tuned to next week’s blog!)

#loveyourjourney #youreworthit #bettermewithNewYouCBD #Endo30 #itsuptoyou