Tempest is the word of the day.
After a restful night of sleep with the assistance of a wonderful machine, I awoke with a rythmic roll of thunder.  "Tempest" was the first word to my mind.  That reminded me of Matthew 8:23-27.


23 And when he was entered into a boat, his disciples followed him. 24 And behold, there arose a great tempest in the sea, insomuch that the boat was covered with the waves: but he was asleep. 25 And they came to him, and awoke him, saying, Save us, Lord; we are perishing. 26 And he saith unto them, Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith? Then he arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm. 27 And the men marvelled, saying, What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him?


There were times when driving the bus at the Metropolitan Transit Commission (MTC), of Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN,  that I drove into the outer suburbs of Lake Minnetonka in tempest type rain, pouring down so hard I could not see two feet in front of the bumper, and so hard the wind rocked the 12 ton bus.  Those were times of fear.  Those were times of doubt. When the wind blows so hard your windshield wipers are blown our of position on your large windshield to where they are hanging BELOW, and of no value anymore, and it is so dark outside, you can't see the road two feet ahead or around your vehicle, THAT's is scary.  But by inching a little at a time FORWARD, knowing that your destination is ahead if you only keep moving, no matter how slow, no matter how difficult, you will reap the reward of shelter, you will find shelter if you focus and stay alert.  That trip was always a difficult one given that it is very dark and distant from the dense population area and on narrow roads as well.  It was ALWAYS a relief when I saw the street lights of the Town.

If we think about it, LIFE is like that trip, sometimes.  Along the way, the storms come in and try to blow us off course.  The thunder claps, the rain falls, and that wind blows us here and there.  It does get scary and frightening at times, doesn't it.  There are times that the storm slowly rolls in and you see it coming.  Those are the times we can prepare ourselves and it isn't so bad.  It is those 'Flash Storms' that pop up suddenly.  Calmness is a state that is very difficult to attain in those times.  But when the fishermen in the boat were so fearful, they came to Jesus saying "Save us Lord; we are perishing." 
Then Jesus said to them, "Why are you fearful, O ye of little faith?"  Seems to me, what we are reading is saying: "Have faith. Calm down. Keep focused on the task at hand, and everything will be good."  
Calm, gentleness, inner peace, are all good.  Today we can start to practice our inner peace resources.  The more we practice, the better we get at it.



Speaking of practice. . . the Lady that I asked to marry me 46 years ago had said yes and today is the day we started our journey through life together.  Here are a couple pictures of that day.  Happy Anniversary to the girl I married, and the partner that has put up with me through all these years.  We still hold each others hand as we walk through life.  Mostly so I don't fall over. (that's a joke)  As most of you have read of our working together at the Aquarium Store and the Shoe store, some folks asked me this peculiar question: "How do you do it?  Working with your WIFE every day?"  My question to them was my answer and still is today: "Why not?  I married her to be with her, because I love her, and enjoy being with her.  She is my partner." 

                           
                               

At the Altar rail
Commander in Chief US Atlantic Fleet
Chapel, Norfolk, VA

True love: March 18, 1967

Happy Anniversary Pat!

Point of the story:  Through life, we have our tempests and storms, of varying strengths. How we prepare ourselves has a lot to do with our survivability.  If we trust in God and don't give up, we will come out the other side of the storm, perhaps richer in faith, richer in love, and richer in resources on how to live through what Satan throws at us.  We can become stronger in focus and in loving our brothers and sisters.  It is a difficult task as times, that I will warn you, and well worth the effort.  BUT . . . you have to keep your strength up and remain focused.

Blessing,
Gary