Sticking my head around the corner of the house I was instantly greeted by a wild wind that whipped my hair askew, made my eyes water and quickly forced me to turn my head away.
I looked at my poor flowers in their pots where the petals were doing their best to hold on for dear life amidst the gale blowing conditions.
A quick survey of the ground revealed only a few apples had given up their hold on the significantly pregnant crab apple trees.
Whew, we all survived another windstorm. I am not sure where you are, but this past week has given way to a lot of thunderstorms, complete with wind, hail in some places and reverberating popping and banging in the heavenlies.
At this time of year with the garden trying its best to finish up growing the season, it is not the situation a gardener likes to see heading their way.
After one storm my corn had been flattened by a deluge of rain, the carrot tops were flat to the ground and the poor onion tops never made it.
Apparently, we Canadians are fixated on the weather, I can certainly see why. Where I live, the weather can change in an instant. We can start out sunny, by noon have a thunder billow starting to roll in and be clear and warm by supper. How can we not be fixated; we have no idea what to wear.
All the weather people have to do not get it right is list a bit of everything and they will be absolutely correct: Sun, Cloudy, Wind, Rain, Hail, Sleet and possibly Snow.
There are many countries where the weather is consistently stable, I have no idea what that is like. It did my heart good to hear that Australia got snow in some places the other day. It has not snowed there since the early 1970’s. They were so excited some people stayed up all night just to watch it come down. We do not get that excited by snow here, at all.
You have to be tough to live in the north, besides the spastic weather patterns, we have half a year of winter, half a year of summer, which means more light some months and much more dark in others. We get flooding on a regular basis, and ice rain which stops everything in its tracks. We have an intense road construction season here, because our winter is so long, they try to fit everything they can into a short period of time. There are times where you cannot get across town because of the construction areas. Our weather beats up our roads so badly that we have pothole hot lines to call in and report the bad ones.
It might sound like I am complaining, frankly I am not, it is the way it is. If I did not like it, I could move. I have certainly lived in more pleasant weather areas, areas where rain is the norm for half the year. I hate rain. I have lived where it gets hot, 36 Celsius is my hottest – no thanks, you could barely breathe in that.
Being able to go with the flow because you cannot change it anyways is the best way to tackle life and the weather. Life constantly throws curve balls where you have to duck, catch or get out of the way, very much like the weather. Tip: layer, layer and layer – that way you are prepared for anything. It keeps you on your toes, alert, watching and making plans for all those “what if” occasions.
But how do you handle life’s curve balls? Tip: flexible, flexible, flexible. It you try to stay stuck to the plans that you made the effect will often be chaos as the curve balls rarely fit into your schedule. You may end up getting flattened like the onion and carrot tops in the garden. Man down!
Most of us balk at change, complain about chaos and get frustrated when our plans get stopped and regularly do a lot of talking about our situation. We usually cannot do anything about it anyways, complaining will not make a difference, worrying will not make a difference and certainly staying awake all night stewing will not make a difference. How do I know this? I have tried and done them all!!
Tip: Pray, Pray , Pray
Prayer is the only thing that I have found that can make a difference in the weather and in our life.
The Bible is chalk full of weather tips and tips for handling life.
See if you recognize this one:
“But He replied, “When evening comes, you say, ‘The weather will be fair, for the sky is red,’ and in the morning, ‘Today it will be stormy, for the sky is red and overcast.’ You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but not the signs of the times! “ Matthew 16:2,3
Sounds just like: Red sky at night sailors delight, red sky in the morning sailors warning… hmm wonder where they heard got this from?
Prayer is the anchor in the storm, the rock that is solid and unmoving in a world that is constantly changing. God is the one thing that does not change, He is the same yesterday, today and forever. Hebrews 13:8
Our world today is so unstable, changing from moment to moment. Are we in lock down, are we needing to isolate, do you have a cohort group, and heaven forbid you have a cough? Personally I am always scared of having a menopausal hot flash when they take my temperature at places, what then? Whatever changes come our way either that we have faced before or brand new ones that our world is evolving into - I find it refreshing to know there is one constant, one who knows the end from the beginning and I will trust the He is capable of handling it all.