I stood quietly on the balcony of my apartment building overlooking the pool. Overhead the deep clouds reflected the night lights of the city. Rain fell softly on the leaves, pool, and concrete, and I heard the passing song of cars driving on the wet roads a building away. Something was chirping nearby. Chatter and small noises escaped from many rooms overlooking the pool, but all was still in my soul. Light flashed behind the mountain, outlining it's foggy majestic form. Quiet thunder echoed several seconds later, and I felt God's presence renew and calm my spirit. I breathed in the sweet smell of rain and felt the light drops on my head. The drops cleansed my spirit.
I wish I could stand here for minutes without end, drinking in the amazing nature of God. I rarely get the opportunity to slow down, stand still, and observe the world around me. If allowed, I could sit without moving amidst nature for hours, allowing my spirit to remember my Lord and basking in the beauty of His wondrous creations. I am so grateful for the opportunity to live, love, and learn on this beautiful earth.
When I was young, I was very frightened of thunderstorms. I remember one stormy summer afternoon when I my parents weren't home. I picked a happy movie from the shelves, went downstairs to the basement, put in the movie, turned up the volume, and laid down with one ear in a pillow. During some late night storms, I would try with little avail to cover both ears tightly with my pillow, only succeeding to endure a half-sleep until the storm abated. My mom encouraged me that the thunder was simply the sounds from angles bowling in the clouds. Sometimes my siblings and I would then listen to the thunder and call out the score of the angles according to the intensity of the rumble. Over time, I grew to love storms. While visiting my maternal grandparents in Lakeside, AZ one fire-filled summer, we had a couple thunderstorms a day. We would go out under the roof covered patio just in front of the large cabin and watch the healing rain fall through smokey air, listen to the thunder roll, and smell the clean, wet earth. Years later, I was spending the night in a cabin near Island Park, Idaho. After the sun set, a storm blew in. Lightning streaked the sky, thunder rolled, and rain poured down for several minutes in a powerful show. It was wonderful! The lightning and thunder that once brought fear to my small frame now fill my soul with the testimony of God's power. I rejoice in it and say, "What glorious weather!"
O Lord my God, when I in awesome wonder
Consider all the worlds thy hands have made,
I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder,
Thy pow'r throughout the universe displayed;
Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to thee,
How great thou art!How great thou art!
Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to thee,
How great thou art! How great thou art!
(LDS Hymns, 86, How Great Thou Art!)
