Aunt Thelma at the piano

Hurricane Irma approaches Florida.  My South Florida children are evacuating today.  My aunt Beth who lives at Crescent Beach will be on the way to Georgia soon and I'm bringing my mother to stay with me for a couple of days.  Lots of preparation is the order of the day.

Early this morning as I began to make my own preparations, I was reminded of one of my mother's childhood memories - something she often shared with us.

Mother's family lived in an old farm house that had been built in 1888.  My grandparents purchased it sometime in the 1930's.  From that time until my parents sold it in 1996, it held many memories for our family.

For a long time, we have affectionately called it the Big House.  And one thing that we all appreciated was the sound of the rain on the tin roof.

The sound of the rain was one thing.  Storms that were accompanied by flashes of lightning and the sound of thunder did not bring that same sense of peace.

Terror might be a better word.

At least to my mother's sister, Thelma.

"Every time there was a storm, we could find  Thelma sitting at the piano playing hymns", mother has said.

My guess is that all five sisters and their older brother joined in.

I thought of that this morning as the news of Hurricane Irma pelted any electronic device imaginable from television to radio to Facebook and Twitter.  Not to mention - every conversation was about it.

While I may not be terrified today, I have been remembering some words from Scripture and some of the songs of my childhood.  "With Christ in the Vessel, we can smile at the storm"; (composer unknown)  and "Till the storm passes over, till the thunder sounds no more; Till the clouds roll forever from the sky, Hold me fast, let me stand in the hollow of Thy hand Keep me safe till the storm passes by" (Mosey Lister).

And the words from Scripture:

And he (Jesus) arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be  still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm."  Mark 4:39

What this says to me is that although we are so unsure of the weather (just as we are often unsure of the path of our lives), there can still be peace in the midst of the storm.  I don't have a piano.  I do have Pandora.  And you can be sure I'm listening and singing those same songs that Aunt Thelma played!

May your life be filled with enough sunshine

to make you appreciate the shadows