365 Days

I.....

Took my favorite drive

Lingered drinking coffee with a sweet friend in a beautiful place.

Stood at an overlook to fill my soul

Caught up with colleagues around the fireplace.

I wasn't concerned that I had left my charger at home and the charge on my phone was fading.

I fell asleep in the wee hours of the morning.

Something was brewing......

Others.....

Readied their children for school

Hurried off to work

Moments of innocence flowed as children played outside.

Dinner was eaten in the car on their way to their child's after-school activities.

Homework was completed

Nighttime routines took place

Children were snuggled into their beds.

Sleep came in the late hours of the day.

Something was coming......

In the thin line of time for which darkness lingers and the morning has not yet come, that which had been brewing gathered full strength. That which was coming was on top of us without warning.  

The violence of a tornado was upon us.

Within minutes the force of the tornado changed us. Out of the slumber, fear rose and chaos took hold. Unable to grasp which way to turn in our homes, where to take cover, glass breaking all around us, the very air we breathed being sucked into a vortex that we could not escape left us turned upside down.  

Tonight as we lay our heads down on our pillows, we look around remembering that just 365 days ago something was brewing and coming our way. We hold our children a bit tighter, we place our shoes by our bed, we think about the pathway of how we might escape without harm and we tuck our children into their beds.   365 days ago splinters of fear, anxiety, uncertainty, and trembling were embedded deep within our psyche and they have been painful to remove.  365 days ago debris not only flooded our neighborhood, but it also left us scattered as a community in ways that we have not fully grieved and are still wrestling to comprehend. 

365 days later

conversations have been had

unexpected time with friends who are more like family

errands have been accomplished

dinner with our young adult child 

the sun has shown and night has fallen

Something is brewing.

Something is coming.

365 days later I am reminded that our Creator was, is, and will always be with us in the places in our lives where we are left trembling in fear. That our Maker of maps provides an escape where it does not seem possible. That our Healer comes to us where the splinters of harm and devastation have pierced our souls. That our Susainter comes as we become impatient with the process of rebuilding and renovating our lives.  

Something is brewing. Something is coming and it is the promise of new life.