{"id":1294,"date":"2010-01-27T11:07:26","date_gmt":"2010-01-27T15:07:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/heidiannie.com\/?p=1294"},"modified":"2010-01-27T11:07:26","modified_gmt":"2010-01-27T15:07:26","slug":"storm-watching","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.heidiannie.com\/?p=1294","title":{"rendered":"Storm watching."},"content":{"rendered":"

\"sky<\/a> <\/p>\n

I like storms.<\/p>\n

A book that starts out, “It was a dark and stormy night” has my attention immediately. (Although other than Snoopy in the Peanuts cartoon, I don’t believe I’ve ever actually seen a book start out that way!)<\/p>\n

But you know what I mean.<\/p>\n

There is something in the air- and electric tang to the atmosphere right before a storm…. the light changes its quality…. shadows intensify until they almost disappear…. and suddenly, I’m running from window to window until I can bear it no longer and I run outside…. looking for the storm on the horizon.<\/p>\n

Only I live in a suburb in Ohio and the horizon is not visible for all the houses and trees.  So I take pictures of the sky and the trees and let the wind and the mist of the moors stay in my imagination.  <\/p>\n

There was a storm brewing the other day.  It was rather ominous in its approach and I was sitting in the kitchen talking with Cynthia when I could stand it no longer and I jumped up with my camera and ran outside.  Cynthia is pretty used to my ways , so she stayed there drinking her diet Coke whilst I ran about taking pictures .  <\/p>\n

\"sky<\/a> \"sky<\/a> \"sky<\/a> <\/p>\n

The skies were all over the place, dark turbulence approaching from the west, brave sunshine in stark contrast from above, and the blithe blue skies in the NE
scuttling away before the oncoming storm.  <\/p>\n

It was magnificent!<\/p>\n

I wish my emotions would give me the same degree of warning.  <\/p>\n

Out of nowhere it seems I am dumped into a morass of depression and self loathing.  I am skipping along and suddenly, the bottom drops out and there is no longer a path ahead and I am clinging to the promises of God’s love and protection.   (Don’t get me wrong, the promises and the FACT of His love are very satisfying and real- and I don’t doubt them.)<\/p>\n

Clinging is not a bad thing in these circumstances.  It helps me keep my balance and gives me a focus when everything seems to be futile and without hope.  I have been fighting these battles since I was a young girl and I know that these emotions are an attack and that they are based on lies propagated by the evil one and I am more prone to them when I am sick and tired and stressed.  But they are so real when I am in the midst of them that I sometimes falter and fall.<\/p>\n

Right now the sun is shining in my windows and the birds are singing so cheerily from the arborvitae trees in the yard behind me, – there’s not a storm cloud in sight.  But the forecast is for more snow and falling temperatures and I know everything can change in a moment.<\/p>\n

That is why I am so thankful for the constant prayers of those that love me.  They are the storm watchers in my life.  They keep me in their thoughts and go to our Father with the love and concern that they share for me and I feel and know that the love and thoughts for my welfare are a web of protection that surrounds me daily.  Our lives are lived in community- we are NOT alone- we have each other.  We have a spiritual connection through the Body of Christ and through the bonds of His love and I am aware of our commitment to each other.  You pray for me, I pray for you, we hold each others hands, commiserate with each others sorrows and encourage one another to good works and stronger faith.<\/p>\n

So, in the midst of the storm, I just wanted to say Thanks – I’m happy to know you are there.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I like storms. A book that starts out, “It was a dark and stormy night” has my attention immediately. (Although other than Snoopy in the Peanuts cartoon, I don’t believe I’ve ever actually seen a book start out that way!) … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1294","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-stepsonthejourney"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.heidiannie.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1294","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.heidiannie.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.heidiannie.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.heidiannie.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.heidiannie.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1294"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.heidiannie.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1294\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.heidiannie.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1294"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.heidiannie.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1294"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.heidiannie.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1294"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}