There Is A Storm Coming: Preparing for the Storm ahead while caring for the Storms in our life that have already happened

There’s a storm coming here in the south.

We are currently glued to the forecast and becoming familiar friends with our local meteorologist who gives us up-to-date information on what the rest of our week is going to look like.

We are keeping an eye on what is happening and at the same time trying to figure out what is about to happen.

Our town and even the states around us are waiting to see what this Category 4 Hurricane will do once it hits land.  Our eyes are fixated out our windows and I’m in here staring at this screen just consumed with the storms that have already hit.

As a counselor, who also works in ministry, I spend most of my week caring and loving on people.  I am currently watching a population that is buying the store out of milk worried about what is to come, all the while I am inside listening to family after family whose storm hit last week.  Whose house was torn down by the Hurricane Florence they never anticipated, and the lightening that struck in what seemed like the dead of night.  I see the hurt and the pain of the aftermath of marital storms that are in the middle of a crisis right now.  The families that are deciding on their own whether the devastation their marriage is in should deem them to evacuate today with a divorce.

As our town is focused on what is happening outside, I just want to remind my friends that there are marriages whose storm just hit yesterday, or even more, the reality of these words could be you.  Your house built for comfort could be the hardest place for you to be right now because of the affair that just happened, the argument that just unfolded, the addiction that won’t go away, or even the avoidance you constantly feel.  Your house may not be waiting until Thursday to see what this upcoming Hurricane will do, because you are in the middle of one today.

You see, here’s what I’ve noticed.  We respond to the weather.  We anticipate the weather.  We worry about what is happening all around us.  But as a counselor, I help people with the emotional storms and tsunami-like regrets that have shaken the very foundation of someone’s home.  I see the storms titled Abuse, Addiction, Neglect, Anger, Unfaithfulness, and anything else that pops up on my radar map.  I help the silent suffering whose houses look picture perfect on the outside, but have felt the tornado-like winds that destroyed the inside of their homes.

There is a storm coming in our town – granted it could end up being just a sprinkle, or a thunderstorm, but it also has the potential to be a disaster.  We won’t know until the end of this week.  But until then, I will keep pressing on.  I will keep attending to the families that are in need of emotional water bottles in the form of a listening ear, and I will keep attending to the wounded spouses that are in need of a medic to deal with the traumas they experienced last week.  I will keep pressing on, because for me, I want to show up for the storms that have already happened.  I want to show up in the middle of the disasters and care for the people, the marriages, and the families that are in the aftermath of their storm.

Some of you are preparing your house for what’s ahead, and even preparing to love the people that will be effected, can I encourage you today to also remember that after Hurricane Florence there will still be marriages and families that are struggling.  They won’t get the attention like this current storm is getting, but they still need our help.  Let’s keep showing up, for the major storms that happen in our external environment, and in the major storms that also happen inside people’s relationships as well.  Keep showing up friends, no matter the storm, there are people who just need to be loved, cared for, and reminded not to lose hope.

***I can’t wait to share with you more of my heart and passion of caring for couples THROUGH THE STORM as I get closer and closer to getting my book published.  When a Sin Storm enters a marriage, it aims at destruction and to destroy.  Through the Storm is my attempt to give couples a survival guide for what to do once the storm has hit, how to learn to love, and how to have hope that the sun will shine in their marriage once again. Thanks for staying tuned, for spreading this resource with the people in your life that are needing this the most, and following along on this journey.  Click “follow” for the latest updates sent directly to you!