Life Underneath the "Cotton Ball" Clouds

            This has been a stormy season in the mid-region of the country. In one such storm 178 tornados were verified, one EF1 coming through south of our town and damaging properties.

            When those storms passed, our son went out to bring in the mail and came running back into the house. “You gotta come outside. Hurry!” exclaimed this very special young man who never hurries much about anything except what totally excites him.

            Weather phenomena. That does and always has. The Asperger’s in Min obsesses on it—that and other things.

            So, we kicked back the feet of our recliners and journeyed outside to see what we thought might just be something ordinary. After all, our son’s weather excitement isn’t based on the extreme. The tornados already passed…so maybe a rainbow?

            I couldn’t’ve been more wrong.

            He called from the road pointing over the roof of our house, “Come over here!”

            I reluctantly pulled my oxygen tubing further out the doorway, walked to the road, and turned around. “Wow! That’s incredible!”

            There before us was a fulling carpeted sky with what looked like cotton ball clouds.

            “They’re mammatus clouds,” Min said. “They mean a storm is coming.”

            “But the storms’ve passed,” I said. He must be confused. These fluffy almost imaginary looking clouds? “They look like they could’ve popped out of the pages of a Dr. Seuss book.”

            “Or like there’s a stork with a baby bundle on one of them, like in Dumbo. I’m going to get my closet ready just in case it’s storms and not a baby elephant.” Min headed into the shelter we call home.

            Back inside I plopped in my recliner, grabbed my laptop, and searched mammatus clouds. Well, what do ya know,” I commented to hubby. “The kid’s rightish. I don’t know about those formations meaning more storms-a-comin’, but it does say they’re dangerous and pilots are warned never to fly through them. Who’d’thunk such cute clouds do that!”

I will not fly up-up so high

Into a cotton-bally sky!

(“pilot” trying to sound Dr. Seussy)

 

            “I told you,” a voice down the hall yelled. “They are like cumulonimbus clouds.”

            “Yeah, it says here they ‘indicate especially severe turbulence’ because of those.” Well, I’ve learned my meteorology lesson for the day!

            That set me to thinking. Are there times I thought something was fine when danger lurked within? And, have I always thought ahead before stepping into difficult situations? Do I know how to get out of jeopardy and choose to do so?

            Answer? Sometimes, but not always. I’m gullible.

When a danger I don’t see,

This can bumble-humble me.

(blunderer trying to sound Seussy-ish)

 

            I’m now well into my senior years of life. You’d think I’ve got decisions mastered by now, but this gal’s not only nearsighted but shortsighted at times too. Yes, I’ve come a long way, but perhaps I’ll never fully grasp soon enough that everything appearing okay may not be so.

Though my “sky” looks bright and cheery,

Caref’ly “fly!” It might be dreary!

(writer who’s not as clever as Dr. Seuss)

 

            But there is hope—always! You see, we have a God Who, through His Holy Spirit, “taps us on the shoulder” and warns His children. So, some of my blunders are actually times I may not pay attention to those “taps.”

            Oh, how I need to go to the Father and seek Him daily! Do I blunder every day? No, but—if I ask God’s help before my feet hit the floor in the morning, then it’s guaranteed I’d do better in this department—because I do love the Lord and desire to please Him.

            And He knows this. It’s His desire as well, and He totally loves me…even when I walk into danger when I could’ve avoided it.

            Here’s the thing: When it’s not possible for me to recognize danger before I’m in it (that can happen too), God knows. Thus, I must not only seek His help daily but also trust Him fully all the minutes of my life.

            Maybe, as I grow even older, I’ll become less likely to mistake fluffy, imaginary-looking “clouds” as innocent and question if there’s need to “take cover.”

 

Simply trusting every day, trusting through a stormy way;

Even when my faith is small, trusting Jesus, that is all.

 

(Refrain) Trusting as the moments fly, trusting as the days go by;

Trusting Him whate’er befall, trusting Jesus, that is all.

 

Brightly doth His Spirit shine into this poor heart of mine;

While He leads, I cannot fall; trusting Jesus, that is all. (Refrain)

 

Singing if my way is clear, praying if the path be drear;

If in danger for Him call; trusting Jesus, that is all.” (Refrain)

 

(from Trusting Jesus by Edgar Page, 1876, public domain)

 

#mammatusclouds #storms #Aspergers #pilotflightrisk #Godknows

#trustingJesus #prayer #avoidingdanger #HolySpiritprompting

 

*Photo credit: Carnage Thomsen

Mom's Keys

             That day was like any other gotta-do-errands day.

            Mom drove, and I occupied the passenger’s seat. One more errand. A stop to buy something yummy at the bakery, then we’d head home. Not far. Less than 2 blocks away. Mom pushed down the left turn signal, hesitated, and turned across traffic toward the small row of stores.

            Crash! Glass and metal strewn about!

            In an instant we were sideways and stopped, blocking the southbound lane of our town’s main thoroughfare. We weren’t hurt. Shook up, though, for sure!

            But maybe we were hurt because—well—everything changed that day.

            Mom never drove again.

            Maybe “everything” didn’t change that particular day. Perhaps it was more like 5 years earlier when Mom’s ophthalmologist said she’d likely go blind, then did in one eye. She drove after that, which was permitted…

            …but her confidence died that day. And the car keys? Parked. 

            After that, Dad became her “designated driver,” taking her to the grocery store, work 3 days a week, and anywhere else she needed to go. When my sister became a licensed driver, she and Dad took turns.

            Then my sister headed to college. Dad regained his “designated driver” status until this kid—me—learned to drive.

            But Mom never surrendered all her keys—just the car’s.

            You see, back when Mom’s eye doctor told her she’d likely become blind at some point, Mom decided, then and there, she’d learn to do the things she loved most with her eyes closed—1) typing and 2) playing the piano, those topping her list.

            Oh, there were times she pecked out the wrong letters on those manual typewriter KEYS and had to erase or mark out errors on stencils for the weekly church bulletin, etc. But she learned to be a super-fast typist with few errors.

            Then there were the 88 piano KEYS. Mom played beautifully. She never credited herself with being an accomplished pianist, but that she was, never having many lessons. After all, her growing-up years hit when times were hardest, so she mostly taught herself.

            And when that ophthalmologist dropped Mom’s dooming news, no way would she surrender that keyboard! She practiced scales daily. Not flawlessly at first, but eventually—eyes closed—she mastered them all—every key signature. Arpeggios too. And more. Much more.

            Some would say Mom was stubborn. Her sisters did! I like to think of her as determined with reason. For she taught me an important life lesson in our home with keys tapping—whether on typewriter or piano.

            Okay. So, the car keys might’ve been stationary, but that didn’t stop Mom.

            Now, whenever I feel I can’t go on with the difficulties I face, I think of our mom. She didn’t quit! Sure, it was hard. She may’ve thought of quitting, but I don’t recall her ever voicing that.

            I do know she clung to God’s promises, which she read daily in her devotional time. Truly her faith was the real KEY to her success.

            What I gleaned most from our mom: Even when something seems impossible or at least very challenging, keep trying. She did and succeeded.

            Mom never went totally blind, although in another couple decades she lost a lot of vision in her “good” eye. But, even then, she kept on—knowing very well how to type and play piano because…

            …she learned to do those eyes closed. And funny thing is, she often had them closed when practicing at home until very close to the end of her 68-year life, when she couldn’t close her eyes to the cancer that took her.

            Would you believe Mom played the piano at church until 7 weeks before she died? Yep. She even talked her oncologist into releasing her from the hospital early because “my kids and grandkids are coming to visit, and I want to be there to play.”

            As much as Mom taught me about overcoming what might seem impossible at times, I know One Who totally exemplifies this—my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

“…with God all things are possible.” —Matthew 19:26b NKJV

            If ever you face humanly overwhelming challenges, know you can turn your circumstances over to God. He’s the only One Who can do what seems otherwise impossible.

“Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh. Is anything too hard for Me?”

—Jeremiah 32:27 NKJV

 

“Faith, mighty faith, the promise sees and looks to that alone;

Laughs at impossibilities and cries: It shall be done!

And cries: It shall, it shall be done!

And cries: It shall, it shall be done!

Laughs at impossibilities and cries: It shall be done!”

 

Here’s the melody if you wish to sing along!

(If you do, you’ll find yourself singing it over & over.)

Faith, Mighty Faith, the Promise Sees (youtube.com)

 

(lyrics from a work by Charles Wesley, 1700s—tune from 1480 England—public domain)

 

#mother #keys #driving #blindness #typewriter #piano #cancer

#determination #allthingspossiblewithGod #CharlesWesley