When storms come! 10/20/08

Good Monday morning! If you are following, you read last Friday that today, 'Morning glory devotions' will become weekly instead of daily. I believe that some times we read a scripture and go on without taking the time to feast upon what God is saying. Please read the scripture that is included in the devotional and then do your own research and look at scriptures that are familiar to you and some that you have to look for that are relative to the subject for the week. The blessings that come from searching God's word and making them a part of your daily life can only be unmeasureable. Jane Ann
WHEN THE STORMS COME
Storms come in different forms. They can be rain, wind, snow, hurricanes, tornadoes and even a tsunami. They can also be events that cause major distress, such as a death of a loved one or loss of a job. Circumstances beyond our control can not only cause mental, emotional, but physical discomfort. All family’s experience storms of all kinds but the one I want to talk about is unusual to say the least.
In 82 Danny left for Boise Bible college. In September of 83 Jennifer left for the same college. My brother had begun an extensive renovation of his home to accommodate my mother who was in the difficult stages of Alzheimer. She was coming to spend the holidays with us, and Jennifer was coming home for Thanksgiving. One Sunday evening we pulled into the driveway! Living in the country, it was not unusual to see skunks but this time the skunk was tripping along side our house and disappeared into a 1' square opening just under the south end of our home.
We both saw it and immediately Jim said; "I think we have trouble"! Actually that was not even the half of it! With the Thanksgiving holiday just ahead, we prayed that our visitor was just passing through and had no plans to stay.
The following Tuesday we left for Idaho to pick up Jennifer from school and my mother who had been staying with my sister Jeri, during the first phase of the renovation. When we arrived home we saw no evidence of our visitor from a few days before. A couple of nights after Thanksgiving we went to bed as usual. This night was to be the last night we went to bed with peace and sugar plums, dancing in our heads, for a very long time. Around 2 or 3 am we were awakened with a strange pawing sound in the heating vents under our manufactured home. Immediately, our hearts began pounding in our chests. Jim got up and dressed! I headed towards the bathroom! A nightmare of a storm began and lasted until after spring break, March of 84.
We not only battled the difficulties of caring for my mother but standing as sentinels with gun in hand, briquet fires to smoke the enemy out and many, many sleepless nights. We cleaned the house many times over, from top to bottom after being skunked seven times. Eventually my mother went home and Jim won the battle of "Skunk Ridge in Sam’s Valley" while being outnumbered 14 to 1. With gun in hand, Jim led the final charge and ended the life of the last invader. The final battle was under the north end of our home. The battlefront became quiet!
During our time of trouble Jim would not talk. You could say it was our winter of discontent. But he was strong! He did what he could! His mind and his strength was on the adversary and not on me. My home had literally been turned upside down! Every time we heard that scratching sound I had to head to the bathroom, while Jim dressed! I spent my nights watching my mother wandering throughout the house and listening for sounds of the enemy. The siege of the skunks was almost more than we could bear! We carried the noticeable skunk perfume for months and until we found a cleansing product to scour our home with, we could hardly stand one another.
Psalm 55:8 says; "I would hasten to my place of refuge. From the stormy wind and tempest." That is what I did! Jim found his strength and peace from Psalm 27:1-3 where it says; "The Lord is my light and my salvation. Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the defense of my life. Whom shall I dread?" It talks about the evildoers trying to destroy and the adversaries causing us to stumble and fall. It mentions that even if the host come upon you and in spite of war all around, you shall have confidence. Yes, we battled a storm which left it scars, but with Christ as our captain we won the prize for endurance. By Jane Ann Crenshaw 2/2/08