Trusting in Him

A few weeks ago, the boys and I, plus 2 of Owen's friends, were outside playing basketball when the sky grew dark and the wind picked up. It wasn't actually raining or thundering, but it soon became clear that we needed to get inside and quickly. The boys made a mad dash for the door (screaming girly screams) as the wind kicked up dirt and debris. They were all panicked. I was too, especially as I was responsible for 2 other children. After we piled inside we looked back outside and a large tree branch from the tree we'd just run past had fallen to the ground. And the neighbors tree nearby also lost an even bigger branch.

It wasn't a huge storm; it was just a "random" wind gust that blew straight through our two houses. No one was injured (or so I thought). I figured once EJ got the debris cleaned up we'd all forget about it. I couldn't have been more wrong. 
Mason is now scared of the slightest breeze. He is scared to sit on our back porch if it's at all windy. He wouldn't walk through a group of trees to the baseball field on his own. And on Sunday he was nervous going in and out of church b/c there is a breezeway with trees in it.
I can't begin to imagine walking with a child who has experienced an even more traumatic event. It hurts my heart not to be able to take this fear away. I am however, thankful for the opportunity to point him to God, who created the wind and the trees, and remind him that we can cry out to Him when we are afraid. 
"But when I am afraid, I will put my trust in you. I praise God for what he has promised.
    I trust in God, so why should I be afraid?" PS 56:3-4
I am thankful I was with Mason when it happened, so I "understand" his fear a little more and we can better talk about it. Sadly, I will not have this background with the little one who is entering our family at 22 months. I will not know what triggers her fears and I am sure she will have many. Thankfully, I can claim PS 56:3-4 for myself when I fear I can't help her and I can share PS 56:3-4 for her just as I have for Mason. God is BIG enough to meet each of us.
The sermon this week was from Joel 2:1-27. God's people were suffering from a devastating locust plague that was destroying all the land, the livestock and people were fearing death by starvation.
These are the notes I have been pondering since Sunday:
“Jesus has taken upon Himself the ‘Day of the LORD’; the wrath of God is poured out upon Jesus Christ on the Cross. He endured the universe’s worst disaster for us.”
“God finds broken, humble, afflicted people irresistible.”
“The safest place to be in disaster: Run to the One who is Lord of all disasters.”