Storms of Life

Last night for Family Home Evening

we decided to take it outside. Charles and I decided to run and we had the kids on their bikes. When we left the sky was blue, with a few dark clouds hovering over the foothills. It was a little windy, but nothing that would cause us to turn around and go back inside.

We kept running, and the kids kept pedaling, and suddenly we could feel dirt in the air. The wind had picked up a little and there was some debris flying around -- leaves, small branches, garbage -- but it was still not enough to make us turn around. We wanted to go our full "loop" and we did not want to cut it short.

And then we turned the corner, heading towards the foothills -- towards the ominous clouds. The wind was blowing like crazy and it took everything we had to push ourselves against the wind (we were in wide-open cow-pasture space). The kids were really struggling to keep moving forward on their bikes. I had my arms out to my sides, pretending I was flying. (I thought it was terrific -- I love nasty weather! The nastier, the better!)

Now, maybe we should have turned around and gone back, but I still felt OK. I was listening to my heart/gut/promptings and I knew we would be alright. We kept going. The kids were concerned and really pushing their little pedals hard.

The worst things was the wind whipping in our eyes. The dirt really stung. My hat flew off many times. We were surrounded by flying plant debris. However, my biggest concern were the power poles -- I was not interested in anyone being electrocuted. We ran super fast when they were hanging over our heads. Too fast. I could barely breath!

We could see that we were about to a point where we would have to cross through a dust storm. There was a large construction site and it was causing dirt to fly violently through the air. It was thick and it was gross. But if we turned back, we would have a longer way to go. It was best to just push forward. Going back was just as dangerous and we could not just stand still.

So, we all covered our faces with our shirts and we forced our way through the thick dirt smacking against our faces. It was nasty. It was hard. The kids were worried. Daniel's bike blew over at one point. I was crying from all the dirt in my eyes and I could feel the dirt in my lungs. William (in the stroller) had his whole face buried in his shirt. It was not the pleasant experience we had been hoping for when we set out on our FHE journey.

We were thrashed the whole way home. Tumbleweed was flying through the air and smacking me on the back of my legs -- it hurt! But it was really sucking in the dust that was the most uncomfortable. We had to stop running towards the end because it was just not healthy. It was a rough experience. Especially for the kids.

But we made it home.

Covered in dirt -- but alive.

(I cleaned out my ears and they were FULL of dirt! GROSS!)

When we got home we had a special recap of our hands-on experience of making it through "the storms of life".

We described how sometimes life can be hard, but you just have to

KEEP MOVING FORWARD

and you will make it through.

I must say, I think it was one of our best FHE lessons ever. :-)

The best lessons are lessons lived.