Longest title ever . . . sorry about that. My brain is pretty much fried this evening.
Last week was wild . . . that may be the understatement of the century. I live in Central Texas, and unless you’re living under a rock, then you’ve probably seen us, the whole great, fantastic state of Texas, in the news. What started as a lot of very unusual winter weather . . . five winter storms bringing ice and ultimately anywhere from 6-10 inches of snow, depending on where you happened to be standing, along with unheard of temps in the single digits . . . quickly devolved into a major crisis situation with power and water systems failing statewide because long story short, we. weren’t. prepared. Not even remotely.
I mean if we’re going to have a catastrophe we may as well do it right . . . can I get an amen? Everything really is bigger in Texas.
All jokes aside . . . and in complete fairness, in this part of Texas (and southward) a quarter of an inch of snow/ice is a major winter event so preparation is a very relative term.
So here we stand on the other side of what might have collectively been one of the most stressful weeks in the history of our great state. The snow has almost all melted. The roads are back to normal. Supply trucks are filling our grocery stores again. The power is back on. Water has (mostly) been restored (although, I can now add “boils water like a boss” to my resume), and repairs are underway from top to tip and east to west of the state.
And all I can say is, I’ve never been so glad to see sunshine and seventy degree temps.
This storm hit after a series of events in our personal life had already left me spent and stressed and feeling very much out of control as of late. And as anyone who has been around me for more than a minute can attest, I’m kind of a control freak. I always have a plan A and then plans B through E just for good measure, and I will admit, I put way too much confidence in my own ability to plan and keep things under control. But this past week reminded me of one the most valuable lessons I’ve yet to master here on this earth, life and the weather do not always, or even often, comply with my plans. Control, at least in the human sense, is very much an illusion. And that’s not really my jam . . . being out of control. But there’s also so much blessing in the lessons taught to me in these moments. Because the reality is, I may not be in control, even when I think I am, and placing my trust in my own ability to control things is never going to work out well for me. But I know the ONE who is completely in control. And once again, in the midst of a series of hard and stressful situations, I had to let loose of what I was holding onto and turn it all over to Him. I had to trust that when I can’t do a thing about the chaos around me, He totally and absolutely, has us.
That’s not to say we don’t use wisdom or prepare for what’s to come . . . that’s not to say that everything is always going to go perfectly and we’re never going to face anything worse than a hangnail or a headache . . . but what I do know is in the deepest valley or the highest mountaintop, I’m never alone.
“Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord,
And whose hope is the Lord.
For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters,
Which spreads out its roots by the river,
And will not fear when heat comes;
But its leaf will be green,
And will not be anxious in the year of drought,
Nor will cease from yielding fruit.”
Jeremiah 17:7-8
And that’s all this mentally exhausted mama has for you today. Here’s to sunshine and warmer days.
Copyright 2021, Courtney G Davis, All Rights Reserved The writings and images contained within this site are the intellectual property of this writer unless otherwise noted, and may not be copied or used without express permission of the author.
Courtney's Contemplations . . . 