Typhoon season

Bolaven has struck...sounds like a disease.

    SO we arrived here during typhoon season, which we knew, but we didn't realize that this was to be the worst typhoon season in 13 years!  so we've been holed up twice now in two weeks...which I find utterly exciting and fascinating!  Thank the good Lord that we live in this concrete giant of a home with a well protected parking space and thoroughly covered concrete porch. I've been out on the porch several times today and tonight just to see what typhoon wind feels like (feels like all the other wind fyi).
   As I was standing on my porch listening to the sounds of Okinawa City during a typhoon and watching the banana trees bending and whipping with each gust, I wondered why it was that I was so interested in exciting weather.  I've always loved a good thunderstorm or heavy snowfall.  I was brought back to the memory of foolishly chasing some tornados in Arkansas my sophomore year of college (yes, I'm an idiot).  It was by the grace of God that we weren't killed that night and I was reminded of His goodness the next day as we got the day off of classes to sift through peoples' precious belongings that were strewn across an entire field.
   But I don't think I'm alone...I think many people are enthralled with dramatic weather.  We talk about it for days before it hits and for weeks after it is gone.  I used to think it was because we lived in Oregon and the weather there was so predictable (rain, rain and more rain) that anything different had to be talked about.  But no, they do it here as well.
    I'd like to think it is just the power of God that causes this.  I mean, EVERYONE is awed by awesome weather (hence the word, awesome). Whether (pun intended) they believe in God or not, people cannot ignore His power over the wind and the waves, the rain and the clouds.  Just standing on a concrete porch in the middle of a totally foreign city, on a tiny island in the South Pacific, feeling the wind whipping through my clothes and hearing it scream through alleys reminds me of His absolute majesty and power.  Who knew I'd be here, experiencing God in such a dramatic way surrounded by people who can't understand what I say, but feel the exact same way?
 
    I had a similar experience in Hawaii, what...ooohh maybe 15 years ago (yikes am I THAT old?) with my best friend at the time, Timbra Wiist.  We ran up and down a cliff's edge in the pouring down rain, wearing our church dresses and singing at the top of our lungs.  I'd never felt so alive.

    May everyone on the island be safe during this storm, may God be praised!