Dark and Stormy Nights

One night a few years ago, a long and loud thunderstorm was scheduled to move through our area.
All three girls were tiny and had said their prayers and been tucked away into their bedrooms. Sometime during the wee hours of the morning, the storm arrived and one particular bolt of lightning and clap of thunder shook the very timbers of our house.
Darkness and silence filled our home as the electricity shut off all of our nightlights, fans and clocks.

Ralph and I lay in our bed and began to hear the girls, one by one, cry out to us with fear.

Did we call out to them to get out of their bed and come to us?
No,...they were too small. They would be too frightened to walk the distance alone.
They danced, played and ran through the house in the daylight, but when the familiar rooms were enveloped in darkness,..their home suddenly seemed dangerous and scary.

So what did we do?

As we called out words of reassurance, Ralph and I got up as fast as we could, and gathered the girls to us.
Brought them right into our bed and put them "in the middle".
Suddenly, their fears were gone, because they were confident of our care and concern.
The dark and scary night became a place of comfort, love and good memories.
Three little girls, in their pink princess nightgowns, fell fast asleep as the storm raged outside.

As a parent, I feel so fulfilled when I get to comfort and protect.
I don't do it because I have to,..I do it because I want to.

I imagine God felt the same for me as I was surrounded by darkness and silence after Jae's death. Life quickly became unfamiliar to me and I did not know how to get to Him.

There are times when I still feel as if I'm out in the storm, but these days,.... praise be,...these days I am blessed to feel like I am "in the middle". All surrounded and loved by God who makes me feel safe.
He's not frightened nor intimated by stormy nights.
He knows the way through the dark.
However,..He also knows I am prone to wander.

That's why He listens for me to call out.
It's what He loves to do.