Storms  An article in the January 2008 edition of Charisma magazine caught my attention.  Austin Carty shared lessons he learned about God as a participant on the Survivor: Panama-Exile Island reality show. He accurately depicted the emotional roller coaster so many of us experience when riding out a violent storm. He was speaking of an actual storm, but his words describe how many feel during a storm: "I curled up in a fetal position, trying to maintain as much body heat as possible. Twenty-four hours we'd been fighting it, and still the storm raged on . . . I had been praying incessantly since the rain began. But as the storm persisted, I began to wonder whether or not my prayers were heard. I felt an unfamiliar bitterness and doubt slowly rising up inside me. Was God really listening? Surrounded by the howl of the storm, I was beleagured by crazy questions. Is God the loving, benevolent Father I'd always believed Him to be? Doesn't He realize that I'm at my breaking point? I'd earnestly called on Him for help for more than 24 hours, but my pleas had been met only with silence. I felt my spirit giving way and my emotions taking over. . . . During those next several hours I rode a roller coaster of emotions. I went from screaming to praying to cursing to praying, from begging God to make the storm stop to thanking Him for putting me through such a difficult trial, to screaming and, finally, to praying again." Given a choice, most of us would forego the storms. In this section I share with you insight from some of my own tempests. Some I am still weathering, others have eased into calm seas and cloudless skies. Are you weathering a storm of your own today? Allow God to anchor you to Himself. I promise you, He will not leave you alone. Ronda "The storms of our life prove the strength of our anchor."   unknown Strength for Today: Luke 8:21-26 Passages of Grief                                           Passages of Grief