Trusting the God of the Storm

Today I am excited to have Betsy Herman as a guest! Betsy and I are in a bookclub together and she has published a book titled Embracing Hope During Infertility. I know that you will find her faith and trust in God very inspiring!

Trusting the God of the Storm- Betsy Herman

A couple of weeks ago the East Coast was threatened by hurricane Joaquin. A young couple I know was getting married here in Virginia that same weekend, and I knew they would be praying the storm away. God responded to their prayers and the storm turned back out into the ocean!

That same storm affected other parts of the coast. My husband’s parents live near the shore of North Carolina, so last weekend when we visited them, Mike and I strolled along the beach one evening. The water was warm enough for me to wade barefoot, and Mike and I enjoyed searching through the abundance of seashells that had been brought in by hurricane Joaquin’s stormy seas. I contemplated how God is so creative to make shells as tiny homes for sea creatures, then He allows the vacated homes to wash ashore for people to enjoy.

Over the summer I read a “novella” on my Kindle. The problem with “novellas” is that they are such tiny novels that the story is over before you even feel like it gets started! However, one paragraph stood out to me so strongly that I was glad I had read The Sandcastle Sister by Lisa Wingate. It spoke to me in my frustration over the direction my life seems to be going. One sister shared some wisdom with another while they walked along the beach:

“It’s like, if you walked along the shore here and had it in your mind exactly what each wave was supposed to leave behind, instead of being surprised by what does turn up, you’d be upset that it wasn’t like you planned. What’s supposed to be a beautiful mystery would just be a constant disappointment. That’s the way I look at it. Life is a beautiful mystery. Somebody else is in charge of the ocean. You don’t get to make a list of what it should bring.”

My life feels an awful lot like that ocean shore – so full of mystery. Things aren’t as I would have envisioned them five or ten years ago – with the number one mystery being the fact that Mike and I haven’t been able to have children yet.

This year I’ve been learning to not be frustrated with the God who allows waves to wash shells ashore. He has allowed all sorts of circumstances to wash over our lives – the good and the bad. He sees the storms, He guides the waves, and He orchestrates all seasons of our lives.

I’m learning to quit being unhappy with what the waves wash into my life, instead I want to choose to search for treasures in the sand.

This post was originally published on http://chixpartyoffive.com/

 

Betsy lives in the Washington, D.C. area with her husband, Mike. They have been married for seven years, and together they enjoy exploring new cities on foot, eating at their favorite Italian restaurants, and doing life as a team. Betsy works as a nanny of four children. She published her first book Embracing Hope During Infertility this year.