Did you Notice?

I painted a picture for you today. Did you notice? Friday night my husband and I had our first date night in what felt like forever. It was simple shared dinner from one of my favorite restaurants. Thank goodness for couponsJ. Anyways we were lucky to be seated next to a nice couple and struck up a conversation about the weather. Sky was super dark out the windows on one side of building and clear out the other side. We could hear the rumbling thunder and caught a few quick glimpses of bright lightening bolts as they burst from the sky. The couple had just been to a wedding and said right after it started massively pouring and no one wanted to leave the church. For the newly wed I hope it is not a sign of bad luck as you probably have heard before. We enjoyed the end of our meals- shared a coupon with them and both went on our way without getting caught in the rain. Although I know it rained because I heard it ping ping on the metal roof. I love that sound!! Want a metal roof so bad. See I love storms. I love the sounds, the smell, and the puddle to splash in after, love the rainbows, love the coziness of our home when it storms outside. Yet I hate the storms of life inside our home and inside my heart. Funny how that works. Anyways on our drive home the sky was just absolutely gorgeous. Breathtaking does not even begin to describe. I made Matt pull over so we could take a picture. Sorry camera on phone not high quality. No matter what I did I just could not capture the beauty of it. Seriously the clouds stood so still that off in the distance they appeared to paint a landscape of trees. The colors were so radiant and varied from dark blue to bright pink and purple. It just stunned me. All I could think was - God painted me this picture today! He painted beauty in the storm. He painted a reminder to notice the amazing love He has for us even in our dark moments. But the story does not end there. As we stood in awe at his work our phone kept dinging from texts from a friend who was in the middle of a huge storm. He hurried on our way to meet him in his struggle and remind him the truth. We loved him in his frustrations, loved him thru his thunder, and loved him thru his rain. Because that is what God does with us! He sees our brokenness, He feels it with us, He hears our cries, and He embraces us in it. He does not abandon us. He does not run for shelter from our storm- HE IS our shelter in the storm. He takes the dark moments and reminds us to see the beauty in them. He reminds us to notice. Perhaps the rain after the wedding was a reminder to stay with him during the storms. Maybe you are in a storm right now. Maybe feel hopeless, feel alone, feel stuck, frustrated, scared, confused, or a tornado of emotions. Maybe not- but I’m guessing if you are not in one now- you either have been or will be at some point. I cannot make the storm go away, nor can More than More. But we can help you notice Him in it. We will meet you in your storm, endure it with you, and eventually rejoice as we splash in the puddles with you. Notice with us. We will be hanging out on the 19th of September, 6:45-8:00PM, free childcare, as always. We meet at McAllister Recreation Center, just off 20th and Schuyler Ave, Lafyette.