Sunshine

For some time now the clouds have been thinning.
This week the sun burst triumphantly through the puffs and wisps scattering them to the four corners like marbles spilled out of a bag onto a hardwood floor. The gale that has been scudding across our lives for the past nine years is our finances. Last April it became hurricane magnitude and threatened to engulf us—making us question ourselves and God. The pressure to “put our children back in school” and take myself off to the hospital to nurse others for a paycheck reached dizzying proportions. As the winds swirled round and round, and the rain pounded us we couldn't see anything but the monsoon we were in—nothing was clear. But God put a deep conviction in our hearts that He has a plan to prosper us and not to harm us—a plan to give us a hope and a future. When we focused on Him, like Him, we could rest securely and soundly in the midst of the tempest.
I have stayed home with my family.
The storm has not disappeared but the clouds have been breaking and when the rays of sunshine shoot through like pure gold, we see clearly. But like Peter, if we do not keep our eyes on Him we sink and angry waters overtake us. He has provided numerous creative opportunities that have supplanted our income which have also enriched our family life---a regular writing assignment, photography assignments, interest in my artwork, and this week three of my photographs published in a national magazine (World, page 75!). A tangible reminder of the plans he has for us.