Storm Brewing

We recently bought our first piece of real art. We chose it to hang on a wall in our breakfast nook. It's one of my favorite rooms in our new house; bright with sun slanting through the windows in the afternoon. The previous owners had a huge canvas of lemons hanging there. I don't know much about art but I did know I didn't want lemons or the cliche garden or beach or trees. When we finally found this piece all I needed to do was point it out to Jamy. We both knew it would hang in our home; in this exact spot. As we were hanging it, we laughed that it made us feel like real grown ups.

It was a perfect fit. I love the colors and the movement. I love how the sunlight in the room catches the brush strokes. And I fell in love with it even more when I found out the artist titled it "Storm Brewing." Yes; this piece belongs in this house.

Hanging things on the wall is just the beginning of us settling in. I can't tell you how good it's been for our hearts to make this space into our home after all these past few years have held. A move across the country away from all we've known into what was undoubtedly the hardest season of our lives. On the front end, we had no idea what we were moving into. (And of course isn't that always how most stories go?) When we left all we knew in Michigan, there truly was a storm brewing.

Within a span of two years, we would lose the job, church, and community we moved across the county for. And it turns out that was only the beginning of the storm. The real tempest hit when sin and betrayal and hurt entered our marriage and our family. For the next few years we swirled in a storm trying to gain our footing. We went through seperations, counseling, shepherding our kids hearts (and our own) through grief and loss. We fought for our marriage and our family. We stumbled as we trudged through the rain and the wind and what sometimes felt like typhoons. 

Storms rage and can rip through homes with destruction. They cause chaos and leave a mess. And sometimes the storms are redemptive and cleansing and bring new life. Our storm did both.

It seems fitting to have this huge reminder in hanging in a place of such prominence in our home. Every day, I get a glimpse of a canvas that prompts me to remember how God used a storm to save our family.

It turns out the storm that was brewing in our family was beautiful.