We had some strong storms in our area last night.  As my husband and I sat in the living room talking, the rain started hitting the window harder and the wind picked up tremendously.  After seeing first hand the 1998 Nashville tornado and ducking inside my in laws' basement at the last minute; we are a bit more cautious than we used to be.  I flipped on the TV to see if there were any warnings.  No alerts were rolling across the screen, but we recognized all the signs and got the kids out of bed and to the bathroom.

After things had died down we peaked outside. From the front door we could see four limbs and a cable down, and from the back door only one limb was down.  The tornado sirens were going off in the distance and I called my parents who live a few miles over to make sure they were fine.  We got the kids back to bed only to have the power flicker on and off a few times and then eventually go out for almost two hours. 

We drove around the neighborhood on the way home from church this morning and every yard had at least one branch down, carport roof ripped up, or some other form of minor damage.  In fact, there was one large tree blocking the entrance from the main road that had to be cleared.  We are guessing this is what caused the power outage for the neighborhood.  The news said it was only straight line winds, but I guess we were safer in the bathroom even if it wasn’t a tornado.

This morning during his prayer over breakfast, my 6 year old prayed that we would not have any more storms.  I love to hear my children pray. When God answers their prayers it is such a teachable moment of faith building, but in my head, I immediately disagreed with Paddy.  I want God to send storms. I love thunder and lightening and I know the wind strengthens the trees.  We need the good hard rains too.   I would never “correct” his prayer or tell him what to prayer for, but it made me realize that sometimes we ask things of God that we would not ask, if we knew more.

God in His infinite wisdom will not grant some of our requests because, quite frankly, we ask them in ignorance. How often, have we asked God not to send any more storms into our lives; when those hard times are the very things that draw us closer to God?  Those storms are the very things that make us stronger.  God is faithful to see us through the storms safely.  I guess that should be our prayer.

Psalm 32:6-7 (NIV)