Well summer is definitely here! Friday after work I headed out to try to get in a ride before the storms and got caught in a shower. After I got beyond it I figured as hot as it was out I might as well keep riding because my clothes and boots probably wouldn’t take long to dry. That was exactly the case, so I rode on until it started looking like we might get some serious rain then headed for home again. Boy am I glad I did, it was a monster of a storm with strong winds, plenty of rain and some major lightning! I don’t mind riding in a shower but wind and lightning I’ll do without.
Saturday’s heat index was 105 so I figured I’d wait for the sun to go down a bit before I rode. About the time I was going to head out, you guessed it, storms again! This time we even lost power for several hours. Thankfully it was after the worst of the heat of the day was over.
After the storm, I saw the most hummingbirds I’ve seen at one time this year at the feeders. There were at least 5 of them at one time. There was 1 that kept landing on one of the poles, trying to then fly and keep all of the others away, and then landing again. It was amazing to watch how they all reacted and interacted.
As night progressed without power, I had to open the windows for some air flow. As I was doing this the sky was so beautiful with orange, red and yellow mixed into the clouds. Everything suddenly seemed so alive. The normal sounds of the air conditioner, refrigerator, tv, freezer etc. were gone. Now all I heard were crickets and frogs, a few bugs hitting the window, some rain dripping off the roof and the occasional dogs barking; mine and the neighbor’s. Honestly I loved hearing nothing but nature, even though it meant no power or water.
I could see bunnies running around the yard before it was completely dark, then the solar yard decorations took over with their simple beauty. Off in the distance I could hear someone shooting off fireworks and having their own celebration. If it hadn’t been for the storm and losing power, chances are I would have missed all of that!
How many things in our lives would we have missed without the storms we’ve been through? Sure we don’t normally enjoy the storms as we’re going through them, but I truly believe there is always beauty after the storms in some way if we look for it. In Matthew 8 we saw Jesus rebuke the wind and calm the seas. Don’t you know if He can physically do that, He can calm our hearts as well?
Often after the rain there’s a rainbow, after the darkness of night comes the light of day, and after the storm there is calm. No matter what we have been through already, what we’re currently experiencing, and whatever the future may hold, He is there. There will always be beauty after the storms, I firmly believe that and on that note it’s time for a Sunday bike conversation with Him before it’s too hot or storming again.
Ramblings of a Christian Grandma Biker 