Singing in the Rain

 

I spent today at a funeral home with my best friend, Donna. Donna and I met, along with our husbands, when we were young and in love. We met at our apartment Christmas party in Columbia, Maryland. We had just moved a couple of months before and hadn't yet met anyone. We met Dan and Donna and very quickly became close friends. They were our only hospital visitors when our oldest, now 28, was born.

We soon moved back to Wisconsin and they to California and our visits became cross country ones. We took turns traveling back and forth between Wisconsin and California; and then Indiana and New Jersey. Something horrible happened in their marriage and it ended. That changed things for sure in terms of our foursome. Except for 1 brief period of time, Donna and I never missed a beat.

Today I am with her because she is burying her 2nd husband, a man who worshiped the ground she walked on. They only had 3 years of marriage and only 1 before he got sick.

My long marriage ended this year and now we are both alone: one widowed and one divorced. So much sorrow we are sharing - so much aloneness stretching before us as deep as the Grand Canyon. We both have healing to do. We both have a strong faith in God. We both know God will carry us through this time in our lives.

It strikes me that these are the storms of life people often refer to. That reminds me of a story in the Bible, in the 8th chapter of Matthew, vs 23-26. Jesus had just performed many miracles and He was so tired. He asked his disciples to get a boat and row to the other side of the sea. The next thing they knew, they were in a severe storm. Waves were crashing into the boat - and He was sound asleep! They roused him, pleading, "Master, save us! We're going down!" Jesus reprimanded them. "Why are you such cowards, such faint hearts?" Then He stood up and told the wind to be silent, the sea to quiet down: "Silence!" The sea because smooth as glass.

Donna and I both know that storms are a part of life and we are in the middle of a doozy. Our storms are so thick it's difficult to see from one side to the other. But, Jesus is in our boat. My pastor said once "Sometimes Jesus calms the sea but sometimes Jesus let's the storm rage and calms the child." Either way, Jesus is in the boat.

Even when there is chaos all around, and Jesus is resting in the boat, He is still in control. This is a man who can call forth 10,000 angels! Even the wind and the sea obey Him! He can do anything!

In this present storm we are both in, we want to be in Jesus' boat. We will trust Jesus in this storm and we know He will help us adjust and accept. Storms happen but if He's not worried, why should we be? He says we are to be anxious about nothing.

Help us Jesus, Donna and me, to weather this storm and the ones ahead, to turn toward you for we know you have only good in mind for us. We know this storm will end. And we know that throughout our lives, even if it seems like you are sleeping, it is enough to know that you are in the boat.

It is easy to sing in the sunshine and with the strength, hope and promise found in Him, we can also learn to sing in the rain.


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