beauty is power

We are in for a storm here…a big one. Another one.

The candles are on standby for the blackouts, I’m about to cook up a few things in the event of losing our electricity again so we aren’t limited with meals. It’s due to hit sometime tonight, tornados and all!

Driving alongside our wind-tossed sea, Little Miss Delight pipes up and says “Mummy, what if this day ends up beautiful?”

Who ever said it wasn’t?!

So I point out across our ocean and show her the soft, shadowy mist and rain that is now covering things that we know are out there. Things that are easy to spot on a fine day, like big rocks and islands and far off southern cities. Right now, they don’t exist, not visible at all, it’s like the grey sky has been smudged in with the grey ocean. We take note of all the green things looking much greener, the trees, the grass, it seems everything is saturated with the colour of wet.

So I tell her, ‘See baby, it’s already beautiful.”       Oh how I love seeing the beauty in everything! 

then I add,

“but beautiful can be dangerous.”

Being 6, of course she asks, 

“How?”

So we drive a little more, finding evidence of how that rain and wind caused havoc just days ago, when the last storm hit. We see the danger of fallen trees, roofs torn off broken houses, and boats washed ashore, and for now that’s all I show her.

But my mind goes further,

Yes, 

Beautiful can be dangerous.

How can I tell her that it can be a weapon used wrongly by her and others?

That both men and women alike can and often will use it against her out of their own insecurities, jealousy, comparison, competition and selfish ambition. That even projections of a beautiful life may cause her or others to stumble, to go off-course and distract her from where and how she is called to live her truest beautiful life.

That, like a fierce storm, Beauty is Power.

And depending on how it is harnessed can be used for good, or for evil.

I will tell her we can be beautiful people with beautiful power. That the Maker of all this wind and rain is also the giver of power within us that we can all possess. To be blessed with outer beauty and to constantly cultivate keeping it is one thing….but it is just that… one thing, there’s so much more! We don’t have to be a shell on the outside, but a powerhouse of inner beauty. We’ve heard all the quotes, ‘Beauty is Skin Deep’, ‘It’s in the eye of the beholder’ etc and it’s true.

'Cultivate inner beauty, the gentle kind that God delights in.' -1 Peter 3:4 The Message

Beautiful can be dangerous to darkness when we’re not just a pretty face. When we are in constant check of any underlying ugly that may show up rearing it’s wretchedness. Beauty’s danger to evil comes when we stand up for the downcast, when we speak words that are true, necessary and kind, when we rejoice in the success of others, when we step aside and let others shine. When we go without so that others don’t have to, when we surrender our heart to The One with the most Beautiful Power of all.

Let Him switch a light on in you, one that doesn’t go out in a storm. Be dangerously beautiful, as I believe you already are,

Who ever said you weren’t?!

falling for you

So today's scheduled storm was downgraded, still a storm, but a mild one nonetheless. i thought that might happen. How typical of human nature that we get caught up in the hype & the dramas, only to find all that expended energy, of thinking possibly the worst, then only to find it was really not that bad. 

Such is life, we can get so worked up about things, over thinking, over analysing, caught up in the dramatics when pfft, what was all that worrying for?!

I am reminded of the time things shifted for me and Mr Bright Spark (the husband/electrician:) We were in a time of ministry transition in our church, stepping out from leading in an area that i later realised i had based my identity on. I found myself crying out to God at the time (whilst cleaning out a cupboard of course) I was feeling very naked without my 'label', my position, my false identity.  i remember saying to Him,

 "I don't want to just float God, I wasn't built for floating, I was built to soar. I want to soar!" 

His response was short but to the point and clear as day, 

"Well stop flapping then!"  

Right then, in that moment came the calm. My ears heard it, my heart listened & also obeyed, and I knew I just had to fall, 

like an albatross off a cliff 

and trust that He would be there to catch me, 

carry me.

I also knew I just had to shut up! To ssssh the voice of 'but this' & 'but that' and but, but, but, but, but!

Stop flapping. I had never realised until then how exhausting I had found that to be. Oh me of little faith!

Even when I think of it now I get that falling feeling, but it's exhilarating. A little like the feeling of standing at the end of the jetty this evening, all alone, in the rain, tide rising, wind blowing.

I've now grown quite accustomed to falling (in the right kind of sense) I'm not quite soaring yet, more like a baby bird in the early stages of learning how to fly, but at least I'm venturing out coz I know there's some beautiful feathers that will gather me up and nestle me in when I need.

"He will shield you with his wings. He will shelter you with his feathers" - Psalm 91:4

Here's a few pics from my phone tonight:

A Mild Storm

eye of the storm perhaps? 

Clouds were moving so fast I almost missed this!

 i relished every minute of standing in the wind & rain at the end of this jetty.

Crazy much?? Yep!!

 then i turned around to leave the jetty & saw this - woops!

different jetty up the road, i walked on this one too,

good thing i got off though:)

And now I feel a little like Helen Hunt in Twister,

a Storm Chaser, what a fun job! (maybe:)

Riders On The Storm

You would never know, never guess by my surroundings that a storm is headed my way. Right now, all is still, all is calm, the air is thick with heat and humidity, there is no wind, no movement. My hometown has been told to be on lockdown, for a cyclone is headed our way and is likely to disrupt a few things as it passes by in the coming hours. We've got in first in our backyard, before the storm hits & overturned the trampoline, stacked the outside chairs, battened down the hatches, so to speak. We are prepared, we are ready for nature's fury.
but all is still.
it's the calm before the storm.
Like the weather, I find myself unpredictable at times. Seemingly calm on the outside but tumultuous on the inside. But it's ok, i have my own warning system in place. It's The One who tells me to keep my eyes on Him lest I sink. Who calls me unto the deep and seek Him there. The One who calms the waves and wind, The One who says it's ok to sleep though others may be anxious around me. The One who tells me what to hold on to and what to let go of. He wants me to know He is in control, to remain still and know He is my safe refuge. To cling on to Him for dear life. He's the whisper in my heart that calms the tempest within.
Unlike the coming storm, there will always be the unknown, the things that hit without warning and attempt to knock us off our feet, shake things up a bit and have the potential to leave a mess in the wake of such wrath. The storms of life often hit without warning, but are also inevitable. In knowing that, we can sort of prepare for the unprepared, by not being overtaken when the storms do come, but rather, ride them out! We don't have to be moved if we listen to the warning system that tells us to lock-down, stand firm, hold our ground & fix our gaze on Him, The One & Only God Almighty. We may find afterwards there is a little unwanted debris that's been tossed around, it's not worth keeping, it's likely it would never have sustained us eternally, so let it go. What remains was meant to and will be used for our betterment.
What a promise.
What a hope.
What a storm.
Bring it on!

and then after the storm - a rainbow.