Childhood Fears.....Revisited
Ok….so when I was young I was terrified of storms. More specifically, I was terrified of tornadoes. Now, I have never actually been in a tornado, but from the time I was in kindergarten all the way up to…..uh… I think it would have been junior high…..I “suffered” from an irrational fear of tornadoes….lilapsophobia all the way… Whenever there was a bad storm, I would lay in my bed praying over and over to God, “Please don’t let there be a tornado; please don’t let there be a tornado; PLEASE don’t let there be a tornado…..” In fact, for years during my childhood a common ending to my bedtime prayer was, “And God, please don’t let there be a bad storm or tornado tonight”……yeah.
When I was in fourth grade, my family moved into a house that had a full basement. This basement made me a very happy girl during “tornado season” (between March and…..May or June?? I think??). Every Spring from 4th grade until 7th or 8th grade I would gather up all items that I considered “most precious” to me and I would store them for about 6 months in our basement. Yes, I am being serious. All of my favorite stuffed animals, trinkets, books, extra pillow and blanket, a few favorite clothes, etc. would be carefully wrapped and stored in case of the most unfortunate incident of a tornado hitting my house and blowing it away. I would also set a few favorite items that I used (such as my bible) by the door to the basement at night so that if I had to “run for cover” I could pick them up on my way down to safety.
As I grew up, my irrational fear went away and I began to really like storms. There is nothing more fascinating than a good thunderstorm with lots of lightning. It really is a reminder to me of the awesome power of God. Storms are so beautiful at night as the lightning illuminates the world around and creates momentary flashes of eerie daytime-like light in the darkness…
But anyway, last night was one of those "awesome displays of God's power". I was abruptly awakened at 2:45 a.m. from deep sleep to full wakefulness by terrible booming thunder, non-stop lightning, and pretty hard wind gusts that shook the windows in my room. And suddenly, I had a momentary lapse and found myself returning to my childhood. My heart started pounding and I found myself praying that old "don't let there be a tornado" prayer/chant almost without realizing I was doing it. As I lay there listening to all the noise around me, I realized how silly I was being. I mean, I am over this childhood fear, right?? I like storms now! My mind knew this to be true, but my body just would not cooperate. So I got up and stood at the window to watch the storm. BOY! It was BEAUTIFUL!! It was never dark because the lightning just kept flashing and flashing. The wind blew the trees around crazily, and the rain seemed to come from every direction. Watching the storm, I began to praise God for His awesomeness. He is so mighty and strong and powerful, and I was seeing just a mere glimpse of that power in the storm. Yet I knew that all it would take would be one quiet word from His mouth, and all would become still. And as I got the focus off of myself and my silly fear, and began to focus on the Creator and praising His awesome works, my body began to relax. :) Then all was ok, and I went back to bed......
;)
posted by sarah j. @ 10:44 AM
7 Sagacious Sayings
7 Sagacious Sayings:
I too was awakened in the middle of the night last night by the storm. I have ALWAYS loved storms - but now as a homeowner, I have a fear of my neighbor's dead tree falling on my house.
the storm last night was awesome. superchikk: you don't live on Carley road in Springdale do you, because we have a dead tree on our property close to some houses. hope not..
I think we were all up last night for this storm!! Which stunk for me because it occurred about 45min after finally falling asleep…
I too grew up scared to death of tornados, I remember asking my parents how you knew a tornado was going to hit, and my mom told me it gets real quiet just before they hit!! So needless to say any time during a storm when the wind would die down I would FREAK!
I love storms, but I still hate the sound of the wind in a storm!!
Favorite storms!!
Flying with my family to Mexico City, It was the first time I really flew and there was this awesome storm in the distance on the way down!
Driving across the panhandle of Texas with my best friend on the way to our first and last great guy trip in Colorado! There was a huge storm northwest of us that we thought was close, but in reality it turned out to be unbelievable far off.. We watched it for hours rolling across the plains.
Camping in Virginia during hurricane Bob, the eye was so big that we had time to set everything back up before the backside of the eye hit us! We had everything so cinched down that instead of blowing down the tents it just snapped all of the poles!
Parked on the side of the road some time around my Sr. year between Farmington and Prairie Grove with my two best friends watching this amazing lighting storm..
I LOVE STORMS!!!!
My dad and I used to go chase storms. We would grab his camera and get in the car. I've still yet to ever see a tornado though. Someday...
Ever since I saw the movie Twister, I have had a secret desire to chase storms and tornadoes.....pretty far leap for a reformed lilapsophobic, huh?? :)
and I agree on hacking down the dead tree.....it could fall on someone... ;)
Jason,
No, we're not on Carley Road. And after examining my back yard, a branch did indeed fall into it from the dead tree. I'd better get it up soon or my dogs will try to drag it in the house for a rousing game of fetch!
i used to have a BIG old fear of storms, and now i usually just sleep through them. i got freaked out the other night, apparently AFTER the big storms because i woke up, and i couldn't move my legs. of course, that is what happens when you have an 85 pound big fraidy-cat dog who prefers my side of the bed (the reason he is not usually allowed in the bed).
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