A Storm’s a Brewin’
Have you ever noticed how quickly the sky can change when a storm is coming? Clouds darken. The leaves on the trees are upturned revealing their light green underside. The air is heavy. And then the thunder billows and in the distance the lightning streaks across the sky. Rain comes pounding down, flooding roads and soaking everything it touches. Here in Pennsylvania that change can happen quickly and sometimes without much warning. We find ourselves running for shelter from the storm.
In the Bible, in Genesis, Noah and his family found shelter in an ark as God prepared them for the earth to be changed. Change. How do you feel about that word? I know how I feel about it. I love it! Probably unlike Noah, I see every change as a new opportunity to see things differently or try something new. And to me that is exciting.
A couple years ago, I changed our bedroom around. Not because the room needed it but because I could. And when things are calm, I like to throw in a little chaos and change. Much to my family’s chagrin, it is just who I am. Do you have someone in your life like that? Someone who leaps to make changes only to look back and see the dust settle, while waiting for everyone else to catch up in their excitement?
So, I changed the whole bedroom around. And I mean everything. My oldest daughter helped me move the furniture and as we finished moving the bed from one side to the other, she looked at me and said, “You do remember your bed was in that same spot four years ago.” I looked at her quizzically. How could she possibly remember that? The disbelief in my eyes was obvious. In a matter of fact tone, she said, “Your bed was in this exact spot the morning that you told us Grandma died. We came over to your bed after you called for us, and I knew what was coming. And then (a few days later), we changed the bedroom around because you were trying to keep me busy and my mind occupied after she died.”
Wow. In my whirlwind of change, the significance of me moving the bedroom around had everything to do with welcoming change and finding a new solution to make things better. Which it usually does. The day my daughter and I moved the bedroom around was fun for me, but so much more significant for her. It resurfaced a memory. A memory that impacted who she was. And actually one of my worst memories ever, as I held Grandma until she breathed her last breath, and then I had to wake up a few hours later to tell my fifteen, thirteen and eleven year-old children that she was gone. It was torturous.
That’s change. It can alter our view of life or energize us.
In Genesis 9, God said to Noah:
“I now establish my covenant with you and with your descendants after you and with every living creature that was with you—the birds, the livestock and all the wild animals, all those that came out of the ark with you—every living creature on earth. I establish my covenant with you: Never again will all life be destroyed by the waters of a flood; never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth.” - Genesis 9:9-11 NIV
In this one moment, God established that he would never again destroy all of life through a flood. And that is good. But depending on who you are and where you have come from, one change in one moment can be both bad and good. I imagine Noah would have felt that way about the flood when everything changed. Change can bring about good things, even amidst the hard. But at some point, change comes and the storm stops, so you can see the rainbow and appreciate the beauty.
I hope you see that beauty this week.
Searching for wisdom and asking for grace,
Jody Flurie
Jody Flurie is the Founder and Owner of Red Dirt Legacy Co. where family legacy stories are celebrated through each Little Legacy Film Series - a series of short videos that can be easily shared to keep children and grandparents connected by what matters most for each family.
Jody believes all kids, young and old, need to understand where they came from and why it matters. Everyday, she works hard to instill this in her family because it’s only through understanding who we are that we can be fully ourselves and make a true indelible mark on the world.
If you want the same thing that Jody wants for her family, visit reddirtlegacyco.com to find out how your family can celebrate the wisdom, love, and legacy of an earlier generation. If we don’t step up to bring hope to our families, who will?