I LOVE a rainy night

I love a rainy night
I love to hear the thunder, watch the lightning as it lights up the sky!
Ya know it makes me feel good.

And it also makes me sing a little song. :) I have always loved rainy stormy thunderry nights-or days. I even like the tornadoy stormy days(those I do prefer in the day so we can see and keep track of them.). They just fill me with energy and excitement and I love to see God's power on full display for all to witness. This is one area that my husband and I could not be farther apart on. HE HATES THEM! He hates lightning so bad that he cringes with each flash and jumps with each thunder crash. There was a time that storms would almost render him useless when it came to driving. He would try to hang around where ever he was and wait for the storm to pass to avoid driving in rain or lightning. If we were together he would pull his hat over his eyes while I drove and object to every "WOW! Look at how beautiful that one was!" comment that I made along the way. He does much better now but he still doesn't like them. I can't really blame him for his dislike of storms, his mom is the same way and she is the one that raised him. She will not go anywhere if the weather is very bad and never would ever dream of driving when there is snow or ice on the ground. Monty never had the chance to learn to drive in bad weather because it was not allowed. She passed her fears onto her son. Now that he is the leader and sole provider for our family and it is not really possible for him to stay home during every storm, he has really taken his fear by the horns and conquered it. He still doesn't LIKE them but he can handle them. I am really very proud of the way he handles them now. To see him go from being almost crippled by a fear when we first met to driving to work and home during rain, sleet, snow, or even some ice is amazing. It really shows how much he loves his family and puts us ahead of the fears he has had since he was a child. I never wanted my son to be afraid of storms. To ensure he did not inherit this fear, when Kenyon was little I would hold him and stand at the door during storms and watch them with him. I would point out the beauty of it all. Kenyon would watch and listen but he never really gained the love of the storm that I had. He did not have a problem watching them when he was in mama's arms but any other time he would run for cover at the first hint of bad weather. Over the past few years Kenyon has really developed a respect for God's stormy nights. He is usually glued to the weather reports on tv and keeps everyone else updated with each new development. He is my most cautious one, so at the first weather alert he is gathering pillows in the hall way, making sure everyone has their shoes on and equips himself and his sisters with bicycle helmets BEFORE he plants himself in front of the meteorologists weather maps on screen. He loves to watch the storm chaser team's live videos and has even made a comment or two about maybe wanting to do that someday. He has a certain type of love for the storm but it is still wrapped in a certain amount of fear of it. Last night he had the breakthrough that I always hoped for. When we were leaving church the sky was very dark and cloudy. That is, all but one patch to the northeast (the direction we would be traveling home). That one patch was filled with very light, white clouds and the most spectacular lightning show was going on. The flashes were so constant that it looked like God must have hooked up a strobe light right there. It was mostly cloud to cloud flashes with just the occasional huge bolt breaking free and heading for the ground. When I came out of the church to head to the car I found my son in the parking lot just staring and watching the power of God unfold before his eyes. He said "MOM! LOOK HOW BEAUTIFUL THAT IS!" We all watched for a moment and then loaded up knowing we would be able to enjoy the show for the next 20 minutes on the ride home. As we were driving down the road with trees lining each side, the flashes would light up between the branches and the trees would seem to glow for an instant. It was really an amazing sight. Kenyon said "Mom, I was always kinda scared of storms and I could never see the beauty in it you always talked about-UNTIL NOW!" That sentence uttered from my little boys mouth probably made me prouder than just about any other sentence he has ever said. Not just because of the kindred spirit he and I can now share. Not even because his love of the storm just bypassed his fear of them. It made me proud because of what he finally saw in the storm. God's majesty is revealed through His creation and I believe seeing the beauty and majesty in creation....I mean REALLY seeing it....not just appreciating it... but SEEING it all the way to your soul is the closest we can ever come this side of Heaven to seeing God's face. My son just saw GOD with his own eyes! It was an amazing experience to see as this revelation showed across the face of an eleven year old boy while the reflection of lightning flashes danced in his eyes. I am so thankful I was able to witness it.