Sunday afternoon Shannon, Payden, Derek, and I started our 30 minute walk to the church we are serving with in Romania. Then all of a sudden, a gust of wind. No big deal, but it was strong enough stir up some dust on the back of our legs. Kind of odd, but no big deal. We kept walking. Then, out of nowhere, the wind didn’t stop. Leaves started swirling, and dirt was pounding our legs. Up went mine and Shannon’s dresses, and we were all shocked.
Then we couldn’t see.
My eyes started burning, and all I could do was look down at my feet. Next thing I know, Derek is rushing to me, grabs my jacket, and wraps it around my head.
We were in the middle of a full blown dust storm.
We weren’t even halfway to the church when it started. The wind was howling, shingles were flying off roofs, trash cans flying everywhere, the power lines sounded like they were going to snap, trees literally bending, signs ripping off buildings…it was like something I used to report on.
But Derek never let me go.
The whole time, I couldn’t believe Derek held my jacket around my head and guided me through the storm. At one point the wind wrapped it around my head and I literally could not see anything, and he gripped me tighter and through the wind, I could hear his voice guiding me.
Y’all, I love my husband. And today was such an amazing picture of what Jesus does for His church.
Sometimes, crap hits us from the back…like ankle biting dust that gets blown up randomly. But nothing we can’t handle, right? We are walking with Jesus, doing our thang chicken wing. But then, completely unexpected, life turns into a big ole dust storm. You can’t see anything, dust is flying all up in your eyes, hair all a mess. Then Jesus just wraps you up and protects you. He doesn’t necessarily take you out of the storm, and you can still feel it. You can still see it, but it’s not as loud, not as harsh, and you remain calm in His arms because nothing can get past all that love.
Afterwards Shannon, Payden, and Derek talked about how they had dust all in their eyes, and they could taste the dust. I just grinned, looked at Derek, and said, “I can’t taste it, and my eyes really aren’t that bad.”
Let Jesus keep that bad tasting crap out of your mouth. Let Him wrap you up.
