Rebel Without a Cause.

Hurricane Hermine blew through South Texas Tuesday morning. Of course, being the uninformed non-news watcher that I am, I had no idea. :) I woke up for work (after staying in Alice) to crazy wind and rain. I turned on the weather channel and found out that we were basically in the eye of the storm. There were tornado warnings and flash flood watches all over. My dad said I should probably stay there instead of making the 45 minute drive to work. I texted the camp boys. They said I could come in whenever I felt it was safe. I decided to go ahead and leave. I mean, the rain was only going to make the roads worse right?

Lovely huh? :)

As I was driving through the wind and rain I caught myself smiling. For some reason, deep down somewhere, I love wild, out-of-control storms. I think they are just beautiful...and there is something really fun about not knowing what is going to happen next.

If you know me at all you probably think this is completely out of character. I am, by definition, a rule-follower. I color inside the lines. I never got in trouble in school or went through a 'wild' phase. BUT, I think deep down inside of all of us is a little adventure...a desire to do something crazy and irrational from time to time. Don't worry family. I'm not going to sow my wild oats at age 25...haha. I'm not talking about breaking the law or doing things that purposefully hurt you or the people around you. I just think from time to time we need to do something that is not practical...feel the wind in our hair; jump off a cliff into a river.

One of the things I love about God is His complexity. I love how I have known Him since I was two, but still learn new things about Him everyday. I believe God is compassionate and lovely. I believe He pursues us and gives us sunsets and flowers, but I also believe He has a wild streak. :) After all, He creates thunderstorms, with all of their power and fierceness...and Scripture says He is jealous for His people. He pursues justice. He is not just a God who sits on His throne and paints wildflowers and writes poetry. He is a strong, wild warrior and I love that about Him!

I believe He created us in His image - and that means He created us to desire more than just a safe life. He created us to be passionate, to fight for those we love, to experience pain, as well as joy. It means we are ALIVE, and not just robots functioning with no feelings or emotions.

It's easy for us to praise God when we are surrounded by beauty. It's easy to say thank you when we see a rainbow or a butterfly. The next time you hear thunder and see lightening, step outside. Praise God for the storm. Because God is good all the time, not just when things are what we think they should be. Thank Him for being strong enough to create a thunderstorm, but still willing to know you. It's pretty amazing when you stop and think about it.

"...two things I have heard: that you, O God, are strong, and that you, O Lord, are loving..." Psalm 62:11-12