Home | Artist Bio | News | Watercolor Gallery | Stories | Ebook | Watercolor Desktops | Specials | Original Watercolors | Contact Pamela
Above the Storm
In my carefree childhood, I knew nothing about life's storms. On warm Sunday afternoons, we sailed our catamaran. In a strong breeze, my dad would let my brothers and me hang from the sailboat's center bar. As the boat skimmed the lake, we loved to drag in the water. Water splashed all around us. My dad even taught me how to sail.
But my idyllic childhood changed when the first real storm hit. One day after returning home from middle school, I discovered that my dad suddenly had moved out. He abandoned my mother, my two brothers, and me.
New waves of fear, loneliness, and anger pounded against me like one breaker after another. Before I could catch my breath from the first wave, the next incoming wave toppled me over.
With my parent's separation, my entire life changed. Overnight I lost everything I valued. My dad rarely came home; during the day, my mother avoided home. At night, one brother and I would sit in the dark, crying.
To cope with the storm, I began eating. I would sneak a can of frosting and spoon from the kitchen pantry and hide them under my bed. Soon 25 more pounds hung on me. My food addiction didn't numb the pain. I only felt more miserable.
For the first time, I began to understand my extreme need for something bigger than myself. With my dad gone, the agonizing pain awakened me to a new emptiness. As a child, I had heard of Jesus Christ. But this storm helped me realize that I didn't know Him.
A couple of months later, I knelt alone in my room and prayed, “Jesus, I feel so alone. Please come into my life. Thank you for dying on the cross and rising from the dead. Please fix my family.” Through this simple prayer, I traded in a worthless religion for an invaluable relationship.
But my life wasn't perfect after I met Jesus. Although my dad did return home during my high school years, a few years later he divorced my mother. I hated my dad for being selfish. He broke my heart.
Through the years, I discovered that there was no real lasting relief from painful memories and bitterness apart from Jesus. Though it took a long time, He began to lead me gently down a path towards healing. And He helped me begin the process of forgiving, especially my dad.
Many times during those turbulent years, I thought the storm would destroy me. I desperately wanted to be rescued. But God didn't rescue me the way I wanted, and He didn't answer every prayer the way I wanted Him to either. My parents still divorced.
Although at times I longed for the carefree days of my childhood to return, the storms gave me a new perspective and ultimately led me to Jesus. And He began teaching me how to navigate through the fierce storms by relying upon Him and clinging to His promise: He won't ever leave me or forsake me.1
“[Jesus said,] ‘Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to Me....’”Matthew 11:28 (The Message)
Bible Reference:
1 Hebrews 13:5 (NIV)
Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION (NIV)
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society.
Used by permission of Zondervan Bible Publishers.
Scripture quotations marked (The Message) taken from THE MESSAGE.
Copyright © by Eugene H. Peterson, 1993, 1994, 1995.
Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.
