The Beauty of Wind

I grew up in the prairies (Southern Alberta) and it was pretty much windy every day of the year....at least that's how I remember it.  Whether there was rain, snow, hail or no precipitation at all....there was always wind.  The worst was in the middle of summer when it was so dry that the wind would pick up the dirt off the ground and blow it straight into your face.  Yes,...you could say that I'm not a big fan of the wind.

And then everything changed!!!  About 3 years ago now I was lured onto a sailboat with my accomplished husband at the helm, and my bitterness and anger towards the wind completely vanished.  It was one of those life altering moments... you know, when the stars line up in a perfect row and you realize that you have been MISSING OUT!  

Sailing changed me in a profound and deep way, introducing me to an entirely new playground to find and experience joy in.  The glorious beauty of nature surrounding you while you cut across the sea is something that can't be measured.  The birds above, the whales and dolphins below, the mountains rising up from behind and in front of you.  Nothing beats it. There are moments of shear pleasure, and once in a while moments of uncertain terror...but it is exhilarating and life giving!  There is this moment of magic when the wind fills the sail of a 2 tonne boat, heeling it over and pushing it forward.  The first time I experienced this I screamed with pure joy...!

As every sailor can attest too, the best thing about sailing is....yes you guessed it.  The WIND.  How ironic and comical it is that the one thing that I despised so greatly while growing up, has become one of the things that I can't get enough of now.  The power of the wind takes your breath away and you can't help but find yourself getting caught up in it.  It lets you know undoubtedly, that you are not the one in control.


Life is interesting...is it not?  One moment we can't stand something, the next minute we are in awe of it.  One moment we are shaking our fist at God, and the next we are filled with His love for us, grateful for His amazing provisions.  We resist change and fight against the injustices that seem to come our way because we can't see them as anything but unfair.  We find ourselves angry with God and with people around us who can't understand our struggles, blaming everyone and everything but ourselves for the pain we are in.  We forget that we have been given the opportunity to triumph over evil and rise above that which brings us down.  


Remember what I wrote in my first blog entry...that our greatest testimony to those around us is to be MOST SATISFIED in God, in the midst of our suffering.  This means making a choice to declare that God is Good even when it does not appear to be so. It is not the struggle or challenge that we are faced with that defines us,... it is the way we respond to that challenge and the manner in which we overcome it that shows our true character.


Life hits all of us at different times with pain, sickness, loneliness, despair and death...and there is nothing in OUR power to change that.  It is only through God...and through Him alone, that we can face these battles with boldness.


                  We cannot control the wind....but we can adjust our sails!






 

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