Mom, we should smile because God's taking pictures...

I love storms. I love the sound of rain, thunder, wind. I love to see the lightning. Unfortunately our kids did not inherit that love! Last night as we watched radar, Jeff and I noticed a nice long bow echo heading our direction. We have always tried hard not to say anything to the kids about storms because they do panic so easily, but they heard that we were under a severe storm warning on the radio and started panicking anyway. After we tucked them in to bed, our oldest would come out every few minutes asking how close the storm was. She would ask questions like "what would happen if the storm blew off our roof?" and "how will we find the cat if we need to go into the storage room?" So once the storm was close enough to see the lightning, I had her sit and watch the storm with me. She was mesmerized as I always am. It helped that it was a rolling thunder and not big booms, and she could see the lightning shoot across the sky. Finally after 10 minutes it started raining and the wind picked up a little. She was satisfied enough to know that the storm wasn't as bad as she feared and could go back to bed. 5 minutes later, "BOOM!"...lightning had hit nearby, and yep, you guessed it - she was back in the family room concerned that the storm was getting worse! Thankfully it was the only loud boom as the storm petered out and headed further eastward. Our youngest fell asleep early on and was not bothered at all by the storm.

I share this story because as I was spending devotional time this morning I got to thinking about all the storms my family and friends have been facing as of late, as well as my own storms. Sometimes we're like my oldest - worried and panicked and scared as to what could happen. I fret along with the best of 'em. But I'm beginning to really understand that our worrying gets us nowhere, except further from God because we're not letting Him handle our troubles. We push Him away and say "No God, I have to handle this on my own", and yet He keeps telling us "My child, I am here for you. I will do what's best for you and you have to trust me".

Is it easy to trust? It should be. But sometimes it's just as scary as the thing we're fearing. How can I trust? I need to just let God in, accept His help and not carry the burden alone. I saw a saying once that said "Don't tell God how big your storm is, tell your storm how big God is."

Some of my family and friends who are suffering right now don't know Jesus. They don't have the security that those of us in Christ do. I pray earnestly for them - not only for their burden, but for their salvation. Oh, if they only knew Jesus!

During the storm, my daughter said "Mom, we should smile because God's taking pictures of us (the lightning)". That also hit me as I know that God takes more than pictures, and not just during storms! He is with us EVERY moment of the day, encouraging us to follow Him. I want to smile at Him always, and that means smiling 100% of the time because He IS everyone we meet...our spouses, our children, our family, our friends, strangers...He is everyone. Okay, so tough task you say. Yep, I know. But if I can smile even half the time my heart will be changed and I can make a difference in other people's lives. I challenge you to make a commitment to smile at God 100% of the time, too. How does it make you feel when a total stranger smiles at you, or your spouse smiles at you, or your kids? Feels good, doesn't it? I'd love to see what would happen if we all started smiling at each other more often. Do it. I challenge you. :)