The Calm after the Storm

I have had a week directly from a mix of a Sienfeld/Friends episode. However, this version was not made for tv. My version is a cynical view of how the group of friends in each instance really interacted with each other. A multiple part series if you will of all of the behind the scenes relationships and motivations of how the actors derived their inspiration for the characters they portrayed.

Never have I experienced a full realm of emotions. From the most reserved I have ever been, to the most angry, and the most compassionate. The storms were surely raging in my life. But as one woman prophecied to my wife and I some 10 years ago, they have been raging and were almost over. I can say we have floated to the top of the rising waters and crashing waves and we cannot only see each other, we can feel, taste, smell each other, and see in each others' eyes that we once again long to know the other person. We entered this storm together and by the Grace of God even though we lost the grip of the other, we still found ourselves surfacing from the deep, together, to once again embrace each other and find comfort in the warmth and feeling of the other person so close. Knowing that we were fortunate that neither totally gave up and that although we were in the storm, God's Grace remained with us. The waves came to destroy, and some we tried to ride to another destiny not knowing where the other of us was in the storm, but the waves threw us back together causing us to know that even though we may have lost hope, that by the "Grace of God go I".

The calm has come, and we are tired, relieved, and sharing with each other our experience of the storm when we thought the other was lost to it. We are seeing the blue skies and feeling the warmth upon our faces, of the sun. We felt that at any moment, it could have all been over for either of us, but now we bask in the calm of the storm that brings a refreshing smell in the air and cool breeze that is just the right temperature and speed.

I am accutley aware that every marriage has its storms. Even the mildest of storms can bring death. But it is only by God's Grace that a marriage survives the test of time and the fronts of an unpredicted storm. Sometimes the storms come without warning, at other times the storms have been brewing and telling of their coming destruction, and at other times, these storms are needed to bring the refreshing rain and cleansing power they hold.

Katrina was totally destuctive. It was filled with unimaginable fury. The aftermath is still being cleaned up.

I ponder all of this as Ernesto is set to enter Florida over night. We are aware of the storm and yet we do not know it's potential.
My prayer is that wisdom prevails upon those attempting to ride out the storm. The storm will surely bring death, destruction, and chaos. It will also cause life to grow where it has not grown before and cause buildings to be renewed that are built better and stronger and will be better equipped for another day.

It is this calm after the storm that I find myself in. And though there is destruction around me, I am a Blessed man of God.