Seasonal Storms.

We all know that there are seasons: spring, summer, fall and winter.

I’m not sure which one I like the best but there are parts of all of them that I do like…I celebrate them all (dressing appropriately of course). Whether it’s Easter, Christmas, St. Patrick’s Day in Dublin, Halloween or Thanksgiving, I think we all enjoy a certain time of year the best.

I like Thanksgiving and Christmas the most.

Growing up in Plainview, we would spend a lot of time at Granny’s house running around and playing with the cousins, eating Oreos (another blog on that one), eating some great cooking and listening to Granddaddy tell stories only to have her correct him (and she did)! There were always lively conversations, laughs, hugs, fresh rolls and Texas Cream Pie (again, another blog on that delicious mouth-watering dish of sweet yumminess).

At Christmas, we’d spend in Haskell or in Plainview. Either way, we had a great time. Christmas brings out the inner-child in me. I love spending it with family and friends. Whether or not there was snow on the ground didn’t matter…

But, there’s a storm a brewing…

I’ve seen tornadoes and hail storms in Texas and Oklahoma.

I’ve seen lightening up close and personal…high school graduation will always be remembered! I’m actually surprised it didn’t burn the house down! To this day, I still don’t like lightening.

I’m seen typhoons sweep by Japan and South Korea causing me a lot of seasickness.

I’m seen the red-hot magma of a volcano in Sicily…twice. Yet, I still went snow tubing on it. I must say that it was quite fun.

I’ve had the earth shake and rumble beneath my feet in California and in Japan.

I’ve even experienced a tsunami in Indonesia and Hawaii. Well, I was in Indonesia afterwards but I will never forget that experience there at the soccer field in Bande Aceh.

Storms come and go.

We all have storms in our lives. Some have storms on a daily basis. Others do not yet know the storms that are forthcoming or the paths they will take in their lives.

I listened to my cousin Craig preach today since I was unable to make it out to church. That man can preach…he talked about coming as you are and not being distracted in anything you do.

We all have distractions…this storm is a distraction. This season can be a distraction. So much attention is paid to what party to attend, how much candy to buy, what costume to wear, and such. Distractions are just that…distracting. Target and Wal-Mart make it very distracting when they set up for holiday’s months in advance.

One Wal-Mart nearby has Halloween stuff at the front of the store, Thanksgiving next then Christmas stuff in the back where the garden center is…at least they got the order correct but setting things out several months prior is well, distracting.

Family, friends, late pizza deliveries, etc. can all be distracting…

As I sit here in my lofty office space high above the street, I watch the waves roll and crash upon the beach. Each wave distracts from the others…but yet they are just doing what they are meant to do…wave.

Ecclesiastes 3:1 states that there is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven.

Yes, there is a time. There are seasons. There are storms. But that’s life.

Seasons and storms come and go…it’s how you deal with it that matters.