Answers to life can be found in everyday events.
Watching nature, watching people and watching
animals interact with each other provides some
of the simplest solutions to life's biggest problems.
This became more apparent to me yesterday.
It caused me to ask myself, "How do I respond to
the storms in life?"
People run when it starts to rain. I love to walk in
it.
My wife, hates thunder. I love to stand on my front
porch and feel it. I grew up doing it and never really
felt the fear many people do when a bolt of lightening
flashes and the windows rattle in my house.
I remember a religious sister telling how wonderful
the storm was the night before. "Oh, the power of
God!" she proclaimed.
They have proven that the animal world senses far in
advance changes in the weather, earthquakes, tsunamis
and approaching storms.
My dog, Ricky begins to shake long before the storm
is close enough to notice.
I was about to feed my three dogs yesterday and as
usual, I let them out in the yard first.
They weren't even off the deck when thunder rolled
across the skies and they did an immediate about face.
I have learned long ago that there is no sense forcing them
to remain there. They will accomplish nothing.
So, I placed their food in their bowls and called Ricky
into the kitchen. If he could have crawled any closer to
the floor he'd be a snake.
I thought he'd never eat, but he began to do so and I
walked away.
Phil shakes like one of those old electric football games
that vibrated the players across the field. So I expected
nothing from him.
Upon my return to the kitchen Ricky was just standing
there in place next to his bowl.
I always mix a little white meat chicken in his food. He
apparently was brave enough to eat some it right out
of the dry food leaving most everything else.
The thunder became louder and more frequent. The
wind caused a few branches to bang against the roof
thus forcing him to abandon his meal.
I urged him to go lie down and he did.
Then I watched Phil. Shaking like a wind up toy he made
his way across the tiled kitchen floor and stood over
Ricky's bowl.
He ate all the remaining tiny pieces of chicken and a few
of the dry.
Normally, if Ricky was standing there, he wouldn't dare
come close.
But today, he took advantage of the storm.
In spite of his fear, he saw an opportunity to get what
he wanted. His desire for the prize outweighed his
fear of the storm.
That's when it hit me. There was a powerful lesson in it
for me and I hope for you.
As humans we face all kinds of storms. They roll in
unannounced, pass through quickly or stay for much
too long.
Sometimes we crawl into a corner or pull the blankets
of false security over our heads and shake and shiver
praying it will all pass so we can get on with life.
If you dare stick your head out for a moment you might
be surprised to discover there are people out there in
the same storms doing what they must do to get what
they must have out of life.
Most storms are like those natural storms. Yes, there is
the reality of experiencing some damage or loss, but
for the most part they are all thunder and lightening putting
on a show of God's magnificent power.
Isn't it time you decided to "Take Advantage of the Storm?"
"I wish you enough!"
J
~ Bob Perks ~
Good news - Bob Perks' first book, "I Wish You Enough," Embracing Life's Most Valuable Moments... is now available for ordering. Here's the "Link"
to get your copy of Bob's book:
I Wish You Enough from Amazon.com.
