Storms of Growth

   Crash, bash, boom! Those were the sounds I heard as I lay in bed. I opened my eyes and saw lightning flash in my dark room. Once again, I was awakened by a storm. I am a very light sleeper. If I hear a noise I will usually wake up, sometimes even noises in my dreams wake me up. Many times when I was younger I would wake up while it was storming and I couldn't get back to sleep. I would get close to sleeping then I would hear thunder boom again. Can you imagine how annoyed I was? (Some of you may be saying, "you've never had a kid. You don't know annoyed until you've had a baby keeping you up." You're right I don't know how that feels that's why we are talking about storms :D
   Storms are annoying for many reasons. They are loud, messy, bring floods, and create fires. Why do we need storms? Well, what good things do storms bring? They bring water to animals, plants, and people. They are beautiful at times. They show God's power. Storms help things grow.
   In life we also have storms. We have annoying problems come. These problems could be loud and bring destruction to people, places, and things we love. But, just like real storms, these problems also help us grow. When bad things happen we have a choice. We can choose to pout, complain, and wallow in our pain. Or, we can choose to let those problems help us grow. We can choose to walk with God. We can choose joy. These problems can shape us into better people. God is molding us into who we are meant to be. We just need to choose to see the lessons in our storms of life.
   So, what storms do you have right now? How are you viewing those storms? Are you trying to let those storms help you grow?

   Romans 8:28 and Proverbs 3:5-6

   Image from here.