Never mind that we are land-locked and decidedly not coastal-dwelling. It totally feels like a cat 5 is barreling down on us. Not literally, of course. We are only metaphorically facing crazy strong wind gusts and an over abundance of water flying around and slapping us all in the face.
It merely feels like a vortex of difficulty is spinning around us and threatening to pick us up and scatter us somewhere in the next county. Or rather, maybe we are the vortex, inexplicably whirling while the rest of the world carries on outside our storm funnel.
It may be a little dramatic, this comparison, but the image fits the way things have been operating at our house. It's kind of a wild ride.
Within the past couple of years, we've experienced a difficult pregnancy, a premature delivery, a NICU stay, multiple ENT surgeries, several behavioral death spirals, aggression, potty regression, destruction of property, sleep disturbances, children prone to wandering off, and the official diagnosis of a second child with a second set of special needs.
I do not outline all of this as some sort of martyr exercise. Martyrdom doesn't interest me.
It's simply an inventory of the true things that have come flying through the air and landed on top of us in recent months, not unlike Dorothy's house atop the Wicked Witch of the West's sister.
Interestingly, when I give myself permission to lay it all on the table, I feel validated. It's like, no wonder I feel like we're stuck in a vortex. Everything is crazy. And it's okay to acknowledge that fact. It would be foolhardy to ignore an actual hurricane coming our way. Why is it any different to pretend that a vortex of difficulty isn't battering us around?
The key to our surviving a storm of this severity is to hunker down and hold on while the wind and water whip all around us, finding refuge in the power of the rock to which we cling.
"And now, my sons, remember,
remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemder,
who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your
foundation; that when the devil shall send
forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind,
yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you,
it shall have no power over you to drag you down
to the gulf of misery and endless wo,
because of the rock upon which ye are built,
which is a sure foundation,
a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall."
Helaman 5:12
I completely relate to this post. Thank you so much for your inspired words. You are a wise woman. Hold on tight! (my 3yr old Truman is on the spectrum)
ReplyDeleteOh my word! I feel like we're living parallel lives! Different challenges, but man, the past six months I've been holding on to that rock for dear life and it seems to just keep coming. We lost a family member to suicide just this past weekend. My husband had to fly home to take care of everything, leaving me on my own with the boys. Every day that Daddy's gone, my 7 year old gets more anxious and aggressive. It's just been insane, you can definitely relate it to a hurricane or tornado, we've just been getting hit again and again. Without the gospel as my anchor and the awesome support of my ward family, I can't imagine how we could possibly get through it all.
ReplyDeleteWonderful analogy. Beautifully written. Well said! Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteMy favorite part of all the Pirates of the Caribbean films -- knuckle tattoos on the old sailor: HOLD FAST.
ReplyDeleteThe image both haunts and bouys me. I'm serious. Hold fast, sister.