If you live anywhere on the east coast from Port aux Basques, Newfoundland to Long Island, New York, then last night you would have experienced the most extensive and amazing light-and-sound show to occur in years. It began late in the evening, lasting for a couple of hours. I finally fell asleep so I don’t know when it ended, but oh my … what a glorious demonstration of power it was!

Now, I realize some of you may not appreciate thunder and lightning storms and did not find it to be fun, and to you I express my regret. Our daughter’s little dog, like you, was definitely not happy. But for me .. oh wow! I loved it.

I see such expressions of nature to be a taste of the power of God. A demonstration of the force of nature set in motion. When the lightning flashed and crackled overhead, lighting up the whole sky and earth, flash after flash – hardly one faded when another lit up in its place or overlapped the first – I smiled and exclaimed “oh wow! so beautiful!” .. and waited for the thunder it announced. Then as the thunder rumbled, boomed, crashed, rolled, I listened in awe as it was everywhere at once – both rumbling and echoing in the far distance and exploding right over my head, sometimes rattling the house. The rain came in a driving rush, pounding violently against the windows, easing off, pouring down again and again. It was a truly amazing storm.

For many people it was not very fun, waking this morning to no electrical power. I can relate to that frustration, having been robbed of that necessity too many times. There were many lightning strikes and I suppose I would not be as happy if we were hit, but it doesn’t change the awesomeness of it all.

I have loved thunderstorms for as long as I can remember, but I understand the fear that others have of them. When my children were small I determined that I would not instill that fear in them, but I did use caution. We would watch the lightning – from the safety of our house, never standing outside in it – and count the seconds before the clap of thunder to figure out how far away the storm was from us. Some storms were so close and loud overhead and the thunder would shake the house, so that a few times I sat my little girls down and we read aloud something interesting and fun to take some of the attention off the storm. It was not to teach fear but to show them to trust God and not worry.

One of those daughters during last night’s display drove with a friend “chasing” the storm and watching it from that perspective.  [Did I do a fine job or not?  hmm 🙂 ]

So, what do you think? Do you enjoy thunderstorms? Why or why not?

The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows and proclaims His handiwork. – Psalm 19:1

For ever since the creation of the world His invisible nature and attributes, that is, His eternal power and divinity, have been made intelligible and clearly discernible in and through the things that have been made (His handiworks). So [men] are without excuse; – Romans 1:20

Thanks for reading, and … Creative Musings!  🙂