Storm Damage

 

Storm Damage.

I think video footage of massive storm damage is among the most heart-wrenching things to watch.

Video footage of people's lives, well-being, dreams, hopes....just....leveled.

It's been 6 years since a tornado ripped through our small town and the lives and hearts of many were permanently affected
. 

6 years since hopes and dreams were crushed and life as many knew it changed forever.

Every day we drive past the scars...although houses have been rebuilt and lives have slowly moved on, the land has yet to recover.  Once majestic trees now stand as ghostly reminders that something terrible happened.

We pass one of the paths that the tornado took, everyday on the way to and from school...to and from town...to and from anywhere. At first, it was a solemn reminder of lives lost, a beacon of hope that humanity was not lost, and for our family, a grateful prayer was said every time we passed it for the sparing of our family and loved ones.

But as time has passed, it has become less and less of a memorial and has even become, dare I say, common place to go past this place without a thought...even to the point of using the tornado damage as landmarks for giving directions...

"Turn left at the dead end, just past the tornado damage."

"If you pass the tornado damage, you've gone too far"

The other day, I was driving past a particular area and I happened to glance over at the tree graveyard that used to be a densely wooded area.  I saw the skeletons of trees, and new growth that was coming up and I remember thinking, "It sure is taking a long time for the land to heal..."

It was in that moment that the Holy One began a conversation with me.

I want to share it with you:
 

"It sure is taking a long time for the land to heal."

"Yes, and it is sad."

I nodded.  "Yes, Papa, it is. So much was lost that night. "

"Yes...there was much loss."  He continued, "Look again." 

I snatched a quick glance as I was passing the last of it.

"Can you see My Goodness?" 

I smiled, because I could see it. New growth was happening all around and I knew that eventually, all that growth would over take the death and the scars, while still there, would be covered and hidden by life and beauty again.

I could feel His pleasure.

"This, Beloved, is how it should be...but sadly, with many of my children it is not."

I could feel my revelation sensors tingling.  I waited for Him to continue.

"Terrible things happen. Sometimes evil, sometimes consequence, and sometimes simply because the world is fallen...and that" He referred to the storm damage, "Is what is left behind in their lives." 

 I began to understand what He was implying.


So many times we experience life altering events in our lives and our lives bear the scars of these events.  Depending on the severity of the impact, people can look at our lives and see very clearly that something terrible has ripped our hopes, dreams, and future plans mercilessly apart.  These events leave their effects behind for years, and years after the fact people can still tell that something traumatic has taken place.


What happens a lot of times is that we never allow ourselves to see the regeneration of promises, dreams and hopes after these events.  We look at the scars and we see the death of our lives as we knew it. We see hopelessness. We see fear of the unknown.  We see the storm damage.  But all around our broken dreams and ripped hopes and hearts, the seeds that fell to the ground unnoticed in the good seasons, have taken root and are growing...never to replace the lives we had before, but to create a new season of beauty all its own.


I have stood in a forest where trees have been ripped up and I have focused on those old and young trees that now stand as a dark reminder. I have also stood in that same forest and allowed my eyes to travel down, away from the gray and dead bark, to the vivid greens of the new life slowly creeping up around them. I have felt the sense of tragedy and despair, and I have also allowed myself to feel the hope of something new and beautiful growing out of such tragedy.


So if you have been touched by the hand of tragedy in any shape, form, or fashion, will you allow yourself to hope again? Will you allow yourself to breathe again?...To turn your eyes from the grey and broken places and allow yourself to see the fragile seeds of hope rising all around you?  Because they are there...If we choose to see.