who is your protector in a storm?

I am continually amazed at how every time in my life, when I think I am at the place where I need to be, circumstances tell me, "you haven't seen anything yet!" I have always wanted to be like an oak tree; strong, eternal, unyielding, never changing. You look at an oak tree year after year and it's just there. It never really seems to grow a whole lot. In fact, it can take an oak about one hundred years to fully mature. Years ago, during a homily at Mass, the priest told us that instead of wishing to be an oak, we should be like the willow; flexible, bending, ready to change, fast growing. That way, when the storms of life come, we can bend to them and not break. I could see his point. I used to live on property that had many trees. The ones that succumbed to the storms were usually the oaks, the ash, the cottonwoods and the pines. Meanwhile, the willows that we had? Probably just a few leaves stripped off here and there, nothing more. Last summer I had a chance to revisit those willows. After thirty years, they are strong, tall and massive!!

Changes hit all of us and usually it is not when we want them to happen. The car breaks, an illness strikes, a job forces us to change. Even a job we have held may either terminate us or promote us, which means that once again, our apple cart is turned over and we have to...pick up the apples, so it seems. And when those apples are returned to the cart, they are never in the same place as they were before. I have never heard an apple grumble or complain. Maybe we should be like apples!

So what is your reaction when the apple cart of your life is upset, overturned? Do YOU grumble and complain when you need to re-sort things....or, do you give thanks to God that He is there to help you re-sort your cart? Do you get mad that you need to re-sort your cart at all?

Personally, I do tend to get scared. My husband knows that I am a born worrier. Good grief, if the weather forecasts snow, I am at the grocery store, stocking up as if I lived miles from nothing on the prairie! I admit it! I keep telling myself that instead of being scared or worried, to give thanks, first of all, for having God in my life, that between the two of us, He's got this, that nothing is to big for Him. Not one thing. And this reminder comes after a day spent worrying, praying and much conversation between He and I. Yup, even reverends can cry when they feel overwhelmed!

If something is overwhelming you today, please feel free to cry, to release that tension within your mind, but then, take a deep breath. Go on, take it! Now, clear your mind and realize, there are so many people who will pray with and for you! Ask them to intercede! I also say prayers to specific saints, such as Saint Anthony when I have lost something. Or if a siuation has me feeling lost, he is a good one to go to. Saint Therese, also known as the "Little Flower," is a good one to go to; she even promised that she would send a shower of roses from heaven whenever we asked for an intention to be answered. And of course we have the Holy Spirit, our advocate! When God is too busy....the Holy Spirit will always guide you in the right direction and protect you in times of trouble.


 

You are never alone. Just as a tree of any type is more protected in a forest than standing alone on a prairie, so are we all....we need to be trees in a forest, protecting, helping and leaning on another if need be to make it through any storm. Who is your protector...who do you lean on? Go to that one now...and ask for guidance. Remember, God has this, too!