I’ve checked in with my friends in Little Rock, Arkansas. Tales of “just missed” danger, lightning strikes and power failures have me exceptionally thankful for the blue skies outside my windown.

My friends are safe. Many others are not. Harm has come to many and death to others whose loss will long be felt.

Such troubles might seem a world away from you today. Perhaps you know no one in Arkansas. Maybe its even news to you that the storms have been so severe there.

There are storms every where. Raging in many different ways. The cranky stranger whole stole your parking space may be in the midst of a storm so wild and dangerous. The storm that blows them right into unkind actions and unacceptable behavior. Your hIstory kicks up storms: a memory, long dormant, arrives in full gale force and impacts your day.

Little Rock residents are poised for storm watches. They endure them. Most of them live through them, repair their wind-damaged homes and go along until the next time. So it is with all the unbridled forces of nature we encounter in our lives. The storm comes. We check for our own safely and then we reach out to our friends with, “Are you okay?”

Today, out my window, the harbor is calm. The boats sit, still. There are other days out this window when it appears I might be blown right off this rock of an island I live upon. In this window of quiet I know today, my heart goes out to those braving storms of all sorts, all over the world. May you be heartened by these inspiring, uplifting quotes…

I’m not afraid of storms, for I’m learning to sail my ship. Louisa May Alcott

“Not one of us has any impact on the nature of the weather, present or incoming. We only have one front to govern, the weather of our hearts. mary anne radmacher”

“The perspective I choose becomes the anchor for my ship in the midst of a gale. mary anne radmacher”