Weathering Wild times

Today the heavens have been heavy, great big cumulonimbus clouds have been gathering and building. Finally, late afternoon, these great big magnificent clouds unzipped their fluffy fronts and showered the earth with the rain that my garden so desperately needs.

As I sat in the conservatory watching the rain sheet down and trickle down the window panes, I couldn’t help but reflect and compare how life is mirrored in nature. 

This week, a storm has been brewing. Initially I was not aware of it. Life happens from the moment you open your eyes until they shut again at the close of the day. Some things go unobserved.

The eye of the storm in our home today? A rather small, much loved and rather quirky feline member of our family.

I had heard a little snuffle here and a little cough there. The other cats had had the snuffles a few weeks earlier and had been treated with a course of antibiotics. Miss Cinders hadn’t been quite as bad as her feline sisters so I had kept her antibiotics on hand just in case. When the first little snuffles started I started her on her course of medication and assumed that after the 5 day course she would be fine.

Well, she was not! We ended up at the emergency vet at midnight on Monday night with a kitty who was struggling to breath {stressful!!!}. She was treated (at a hefty fee) and sent home for the rest of the night, me – with instructions to get her to our own vet first thing in the morning.

Tuesday dawns and businesses open. I call the vet. ‘Yes come right in, we’ll see her immediately’.

Oh dear! It turns out we have one sick kitty. She has lost a third of her body weight and had to stay in for a myriad of tests. It turns out my poor kitty has pneumonia. Mercifully we have been able to take her home after a long day of prodding and poking, along with a small pharmaceutical arson at our disposal and strict instructions to make sure that she does not miss even one dose. 

We are also a good deal less well off (like – I could buy my months groceries with the cash paid out in medical bills!) which caused my heart to race just a bit 🙂

 So after filling you in, lets get back to reflective me sitting in the conservatory 😉

As I watched the rain pour down, I noticed that on the lawn a couple of pigeons carried on with what they were doing before the storm broke. They seemed totally oblivious. They didn’t fly off, they were unperturbed, they stood fast through the rain shower.

Throughout today I had wobbly moments, yet throughout today God sent little reassuring messages. I opened my daily devotional app on my phone and today’s verse is 1 Peter 5:7, ‘Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you’.

I switch over to my devotional reading for today, Phillippians 4: 7, ‘The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.‘

A chat with a lovely friend who has a gentle and godly heart, a burden shared, spirits lifted, worries understood. Our visit – a hug from God.

Even through life’s little upsets and bumps, God is there and He wants us to know that He is there – and cares, even about the little things. A sick cat, an upset child, circumstances that keep us busier than we would like – God is there.

 The rain can fall all around us, make us wet and miserable, but we need not fear or let it get the better of us. We can keep our spirits up because the showers will pass and the sun will come out. We can rest in God’s perfect peace if we will.

Which brings me to another point to ponder…

When life is getting us down, when the rain is falling, we do need to take a little time away from it all. Ten minutes, time to sit in the protection of the ‘conservatory’ watching the rain bucket down. Time to turn our thoughts to our Lord, time to sip a cup of tea and say a little prayer. Time to sit quietly in God’s presence and just …. be.

My storm has passed, but I know that for others the storm may last a little longer, or perhaps you were expecting a sunny forecast but see the gathering clouds that spell wild times ahead. Take time to rest in Him who brings perfect peace. Just that little bit of time where you step away from the crowds and busyness and sit in silence in the presence of your Lord :o)