It’s a tradition in our family~ When I drive my kids back to college, I go to chapel with them. It has never failed; God always speaks to me powerfully, usually to confirm something He has been teaching me. When I took Lilly back to school in Springfield after fall break a couple of weeks ago, the message wasn’t new to me, but I somehow knew it was personal.

“Be like the buffalo,” said the speaker. When cows see a storm coming, they huddle in groups and run away from the storm. Eventually the storm catches them and they end up running with the storm, which prolongs the suffering they were trying to avoid. The buffalo, on the other hand, watches the storm approach and then he charges into the storm, which reduces the time he has to weather it. When hard times come (not if, but when), don’t try to outrun them.

Sometimes God removes us from the storm, but more often than not He sustains us so that we can not only survive them but come out of them stronger by His grace. Jesus said, “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33) Be like the buffalo.

After chapel, I spent the rest of the day shopping for family and camp. I was sitting in a parking lot getting ready to head home when I got the calls. Seemed like everyone knew before I did that my 13 year old son Christian fell at youth group, and they felt certain his wrist was broken. There I sat, an hour and a half from church and unable to do anything except reroute people to my husband and text him a photo of our health sharing card.

All the way home I drove in and out of storms. As I prayed for Christian, I heard Holy Spirit tell me that He was working on his behalf. Okay, God, I’m holding on loosely. I know he’s Yours. I see the storm. I’ll help him run.

The Lord didn’t prevent the accident, but He had prepared us all. Just a few weeks earlier, my daughter and son in law Parker had made an impromptu visit from Minnesota, and Parker had shown my kids x-rays of when he broke his leg at Christian’s age. He told the story, the accident, the shock and gore, the surgery and recovery. When Christian was hurt, he knew he wasn’t alone.

Christian’s arm was broken in half. Both the long bones were snapped in two. The break is called “silver fork deformity” as the wrist looked like a S. The adults at youth group thought he was trying to pass-out on them, but when they asked him if he was okay, he whispered, “Yeah, I’m just praying.” Prayer was his first response. He didn’t cry, even though other people did, but when I woke him up to give him pain killers in the night he wanted to know if I was okay. He mused over his bad luck, but then he suggested that maybe God planned to do something “miraculous.” “I want God to use this to help the other kids at youth group grow in faith,” he told me.

When the surgeon explained his situation at the follow up appointment, Christian kept his positive attitude, telling the doctor, “I understand what you are telling me because I just studied all of this biology in science.” Imagine that. He has never complained, and the only groan I have heard out of him was as he was trying to come out of the anesthesia from the difficult surgery. “It hurts like when I first broke it,” he whispered. And as he has been recovering, he thoughtfully shared with me that he will be able to show greater compassion for other people who break bones or have surgery because he will understand.

We aren’t through this yet. We go back to have the pins that run through the bones pulled out in 10 days. Christian is already scouting information on what that process will be like, but I don’t see him worry. He just wants to understand. That is how he rolls. He will get a cast and spend a few more weeks healing. As his mother, I’m grateful he is young enough that his bones can remodel without permanent plates and screws.

My last post talked about patience and the difference between patience with people and patience with one’s circumstances. Christian just turned 13, but I see him exhibiting patience with his circumstances. Why do some people seem to suffer so much to learn endurance, kicking and screaming and running from life’s storms while others seem so much more resilient, charging head first into the storm? What makes a buffalo a buffalo?

I think it’s trust….may our children never lose it. If you truly believe that you are held, then you move through life as one who is carried, not as one who is forsaken. You are never alone. Let go of whatever you might be grasping so you can take hold of Jesus’s hand. He is in the storm with you, and if you listen you will hear him whisper, “Peace, be still.” More than the storm out there, it is the storm in your heart that He desires to still.

There will be storms, but every moment you are held.

Images by Dawn Rose and Debbie EM from Pixabay