Where Fear and Thrill Meet

How often can you say you've experienced a moment of fear and thrill where they meet in the middle? And yet, you sense God's presence there as well?

When all those emotions collide, you get a strange sensation of incredibleness as you stand there in view of the amazing wonders of creation.

Right about now, you are probably wondering what I am even talking about above. Last Saturday, our town experienced a tornado. We had several days of severe weather and we had already spent time in the storm closets. As Saturday approached, it was predicted that we may have some storms roll through but no mention of a tornado.

I have a whale of a fascination for weather and it's easily noticed by people close to me. I am pretty sure that I could easily get involved in some sort of weather job in the future and really enjoy it. Since living in Texas, I get a thrill over watching the storms that come through.  Anything having to do with observing creation is pretty neat.

 Before the tornado hit, I was watching a website that shows the storm chasers in our area with live streaming. It was pretty cool seeing one right up the road from us. As we watched his streaming, he was pointing out that there was something in the midst. At that time, the news channel warned the people of our town to take cover as a tornado had been spotted.

I looked outside and all of our neighbors were standing there looking in the sky. Since we had to travel to the neighbor's storm shelter, as we headed over, we could see what they saw. A funnel cloud headed our way near our neighborhood. The sirens were blasting and people were beginning to get into place. Ironically, we watched it as it was passing by on our way to shelter. I caught it on camera and it was that moment described above.

I felt fearful for what was so close and could be so damaging. I felt thrill for seeing something that most people see from TV. I felt God's presence as I thought about how amazing all of the different parts of weather is that He creates daily. It was really neat to say I could scratch that off this fascinated weather gal's bucket list.

I can't even begin to imagine what it must  have been like to experience the Red Sea parting or the whole earth flooding from the view of an ark. I can't imagine what it was like to have been Lot knowing a whole city was being destroyed right behind him. I can't imagine what it must have been to see that storm when Jesus began walking on water.

All that happens in regards to weather, the birds, the animals, and the miracles are all amazing. It can be fascinating beyond words when we take the time to really look around and see all that He has made. We need to spend less time absorbed with ourselves/technology, and focus more on what happens around us each day.

Get outside and watch the clouds pass by. Notice their shapes and sizes. See how many butterflies and birds you can find in the springtime. Admire each snowflake that falls while trying to catch a few on your tongue. Gather different colors of leaves together in the Fall and compare them. Go on a nature walk to see how many animals you can find. There is so much to see that we often forget about when we are absorbed in everyday life. It's a beautiful world.