Rain

One of my children has been having a very hard time feeling safe at school, and really anywhere that I am not with him.   He has severe food allergies, and only feels completely safe when he is with me.  (Wow, that's a lot of pressure!)

His deep anxiety about his surroundings began the end of July, after a scary incident, and has been very strong ever sense.....

I have tried everything that I can think of, and continue to try every idea that I come across, to help this poor child be able to calm down and trust more...

I recently asked my Pastor for advice, and he borrowed me a video titled "Rain" to watch with my son.  This video is so amazing, and I cannot possibly explain how deeply it touched us, in few words, but the main point was; When we are stuck in the "storms" of our lives and the "rain" keeps coming down, God holds us tight and reminds us that he is with us and that he knows the way to get out of the "Storm".   Trust in him, and he will lead you through all of life's "Storms". 

This was such a beautiful video, and my sons really liked it too!    They didn't grasp all of the concepts until we discussed it after watching, and then, they both really understood!

To watch my boys both think and reflect that "Yea, God is always with us!" and "Wow, he will carry me through anything!" was a very amazing mother moment indeed!

From that discussion, we went on to a related craft.....   I had previously cut out many little rain drops from blue construction paper, and I asked the boys to write a "storm/trial" that they feel they have faced on each raindrop and attach it to construction paper.   We did this together and guess what, mama ended up writing on the most raindrops!    We then shared together, what each of us had written on our own raindrops.   This whole process was very beautiful!   When preparing for this activity, I didn't know if both of my boys would be old enough to fully grasp this concept, but they surprised me, and dug deep!

Once we each had our own "Sky" full of Raindrops (on paper), we held them above our heads and we said "Here God....Please hold me and show me the way through these storms!" "We trust in You!"   And then, we each put our storms away in a drawer in our rooms, and moved on, because we had just given our worries to God, and they are no longer in our hands! (both literally and figuratively) :)

Scriptures that we read included:

"Is Anyone Crying for Help?  God is listening, ready to rescue you."  Psalm 34:17

"O Lord, the God who saves me, day and night I cry out before you." Psalm 88:1

"There you saw how the Lord your God carried you, as a father carries his son, all the way you went until you reached this place."  Deuteronomy 1:31

This powerful lesson with my boys touched each of us very deeply, and I am so grateful for the way in which it touched me, and the way that we opened up and bonded over this experience!

What an amazing work God did in each of us just today, by bringing us that video and his word and reminding us, convincing us all, that we are NEVER alone, and that He will carry and care for us always!

I write this hoping, that each of you may be reminded also, that God is with you in every "Storm" of life, and that He will show you the way through it!!