I think of this mural in Springfield, Missouri, every time I find myself getting anxious about something that’s expected to happen in the future. In this case, Wind. I’m getting all wound up over something I CANNOT control.
Now that we’ve been in southeast Texas for a couple of weeks, I’ve been reminded of just how strong the wind can be here on the Texas coast. It’s forecasted to be ‘breezy’ on Friday, the day we’re supposed to cross over the 2.4 mile long Queen Isabella Memorial Causeway that connects Port Isabel to South Padre Island. It’s the longest bridge in Texas, and it crosses the Laguna Madre and the Intracoastal Waterway.
So I’ve been finding myself fretting over the bridge, its height, the water below, and now, the wind. I could feel my anxiety ramping up, and I knew I needed to do something about it before it got out of control. In a lot of ways, the anxiety felt familiar; I felt like this a couple of years ago when I first started driving the motorhome.
That’s when it dawned on me to do the same thing now that I did then to get over the fear (because that’s what it really was.) I’m grateful for the inspiration and the accompanying willingness to be proactive. I have been learning about driving a motorhome in the wind. Thank God for the Internet, and bless all the people who post How-to videos on YouTube! I’ve also been reading articles on driving high-profile vehicles in windy conditions. And if worse comes to worse, my husband and I have no issue with tucking into a parking lot somewhere and waiting for better weather. My days of living on a boat may be way behind me, but my reverence for Mother Nature has remained.
As much of a concern that it is, I must remember that there’ve been numerous times I’ve appreciated the wind–on hot summer days, listening to windchimes, when I used to sail, and now whenever I fly my kite. So I have to remember to be grateful for the wind, even for the tinges of concern it’s giving me presently. Most of all, I’m grateful to have learned the difference between what I can control and what I can’t, and the peace that comes from that. I give God all the glory for this turn-around in my nature. Gratitude is teaching me to live in Today.
He replied, “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?” Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm. ~Matthew 8:26
