Tuesday Four....Weathering the Storm

Weathering the Storm

It's time again for Tuesday 4 hosted by Anne from Cottage by the sea.

 Published each week in memory of Toni Taddeo, it's original author.We keep Toni Taddeo's original idea alive here with 4 questions each week to get you blogging, visiting and  learning about yourself and other bloggers.   The more people join in, the merrier and the better it gets. We are always looking for topics, subjects and ideas so feel free to chime in if you have idea.

When thunder and lightning happen, cats, dogs, squirrels like to be in a small, safe , enclosure. Inside animals will hide under beds, outside they are appreciative of a box or little house to hide in. People are no different it seems.

1. Do storms frighten you or make you cautious? For the most part I don't mind storms. With that said, I live in Washington State and our storms usually aren't of a catastrophic level, though we are known to have wind, ice and freezing rain storms that can cause significant damage. I love a good thunder storm. I prefer to be home and hunkered down if we are going to have "stormy" weather. If it's windy, I'm always cautious going down our hill since it's been known to have downed branches or even a tree or two.

In October, I help at a pumpkin patch owned by my son in laws family. I love it, and many of the days are pleasant, however, there are times that it is windy, rainy and cold, like last Saturday...all I wanted was to be home, warm and cozy. But I was bundled up under a tent pricing pumpkins. Sunday was better, but still cold and rainy at times and there was a lot of mud from the previous day/night of heavy rain.

2. What is the worst weather you can remember? Hmmmm, when I was younger, we lived in Ohio and I remember having to go in the basement during tornado warnings. 

The worst weather here in Washington might have been the 1995 flood that hit our town. We had to go stay with friends for a few days. Then a few months later a wind/ice storm hit and we lost power and stayed with some other friends.  

We've had some pretty heavy freezing rain storms that have had us stuck at home for a few days. Once the regular roads were cleared, I walked to the end of the road to have someone pick me up to bring me to work.

3.Are you in a personal storm right now and do you need our prayers to help you through it? No. I mean, it's not all sunshine and summer days, but nothing I would call a storm. I think many bloggers are prayer warriors indeed.

4.  What is the best advice you can give to others about weathering storms of any kind.

This is a tough one because we are all individual and have individual responses to the things life throws our way. So much hinges on our mental, spiritual and physical health. As a woman of faith, I might say, "remember God, Jesus, Holy Spirit are in the storm with you". I might say "do things that will strengthen your heart and mind. Be realistic, but lean towards hope and optimism, rather than negative thoughts". I might say, "if you're able, take time to walk and get out in nature, do something that you enjoy". I might say, "don't try to weather the storm alone, don't pretend everything's fine, if it's not".

With Joy Unquenchable,

Kirstin