A tornado has hit -- my life was ground zero. It seemed to come without warning and hit with a fury, ripping my life to shreds. My safe and comfortable life has been lifted off its foundation. Debris is spread as far as I can see. Hopes and dreams are shattered. Family unity is destroyed. Home is a shell of loneliness.
As I look back, signs of the coming storm were everywhere. The distance in our marriage was like a dark and ominous sky. Discord was like hail raining down, beating down signs of life. Heavy clouds told me that a serious storm was coming -- but I did not expect this.
I've been hit by a tornado before. I knew the signs. And yet, I believed a tornado would not hit the same place twice. Naive hope.
When the storm hit, my life went into the whirlwind. It felt like the tornado and I were one. Spinning. Churning. Violent. Unpredictable. My thoughts raced with little direction or purpose. My emotions spun out of control leaving destruction in the midst. My body ached from the force of the storm. It seemed that the cyclone would never stop.
Fierce friends and family kept me tethered. They came and sat in the rubble and helped me explore the damage. They cried with me and their tears told me that the storm mattered. They fed and nourished me in every way possible. They were the hands, feet and heart of Jesus. They kept me from losing my way in the storm.
How does one survive a tornado without tethers? A tornado is bent on destruction -- ripping apart all in its path. In the spinning and chaos, it is easy to lose your bearings, to lose your way, to lose yourself. Yet my lifelines were ever present -- loving me, caring for me, nourishing my heart and soul.
Destruction and beauty co-mingling. Both are true and real.
Lord, as I live in the tornado's destructive wake, may I hold tightly to the beautiful tethers that You have provided. May I know the realness of both.
