Enduring the Storm

           I stand here in the middle of a field, drenched and miserable. I have had enough of the troubles that have hit me lately.

           “God!” I call out as I look up at the sky, covered with dark clouds. I must close my eyes as drops batter my face. “I have had enough!” Take this storm away! I cannot take it anymore! Please, if you genuinely love me!”

           I came close to asking if He were truly out there, but then I would be fooling myself. I knew there was a God, but I am upset with Him right now.

           It seems that not long ago, rain clouds entered my life. I am expected to deal with a storm every so often, but eventually, they blow away. In this case, they decided to stay for a while.

           It all started when I received a call.

           “Hello Derek,” a familiar, female voice said on the other end. “This is Susan.”

           At first, the name did not clock, but then I recalled the couple of times she drove us to the movies.

           “Hello Susan,” I replied. “Is everything okay?” I asked in concern for it sounded like one close to tears.

           “Bill was in a car accident. He did not survive the extensive injuries.”

           I remember standing there in silence. Shock rocked my body. The man who seemed invincible when we were much younger, turned out to be mortal. My best friend for so many years is gone. Never see him face to face ever again on this planet.

           “Are you still there?” she asked.

           “Y…yeah,” I muttered as I sat in a chair. “I…I am so sorry to hear this. I am so sorry for you.”

           There was silence on her end. I am sure she was doing her best to hold the tears in.

           “You two were like brothers,” she finally said. “I will let you know more later when the funeral will happen. Take care.”

           “Thank you,” I said. “Take care of you and the family.”

           We disconnected, and I sat there recounting memories of Bill. The tears started to flow soon afterward.

           It was not long before I received my second bit of shocking news. In fact, there were two in one day.

           “Derek,” I heard my boss, Mike, call from his office.

           “Yes,” I replied as I stood and left the cubicle to beeline to his office.

           “Sit down,” he said as he leaned back in his chair with his heavy frame, making the chair groan. “I will get straight to the point. The company is cutting the workforce by half. I am afraid you are one of them being cut.”

           I had heard of rumors of cuts but figured it was at the other facilities since they had fifty or more employees. The one I worked at only had ten employees.

           “They figured someone from our Seattle branch would take over your position and run it,” Mike said with a frown. “Eventually, they will shut this facility down.”

           I just nodded, speechless once again.

           “Sorry for the unwelcome news. Especially since your friend died recently. Does not sit well with my soul.”

           “I will just pack up,” I told him as I stood up.

           He nodded his head as I left the office and soon after driving home.

           I was close to putting ten years into this job and now will have to search for a new one.

           “Not much in savings so have to find a new job soon,” I muttered.

           Before I got out of the car I received a call from Marisa. My sweetheart of three years, and one I was about to propose to in a month. With the loss of my job, it might be a little longer now.

           “Hello, my love,” I said.

           “Derek,” she said. “Do you have time to talk?”

           “I do,” I responded, thinking the question odd.

           “I have been thinking about our time together for the last couple of weeks,” she said. “And I am thinking that we should go our separate ways. It seems like we have grown apart lately.”

           “We have?” I asked remembering the romantic dinner we had recently, which cemented my thoughts of proposing to her.

           “You might not have seen or felt like we have but I have noticed.”

           “I guess you can say I’m not good at observing or quite naïve,” I responded in disbelief.

           “You are not making this easy,” said Maris sternly.

           “Sorry. I just got laid off from work and now you want to break up with me,” I said. “I find it hard to believe we have grown apart.”

           “Well, we have. It is as simple as that.”

           “What is the real reason?” I asked in frustration. “You find a new man?”

           “What?! You jerk,” and she hung up.

           I sat in my car in stunned silence. What is going on? Why is my world falling apart around me? Did I do something wrong? What did I do wrong, God?”

           I finally got out of the car and went inside. It was not long after entering that I remembered that I needed to go food shopping if I wanted to eat at night. I turned around and out the door. I was about to open the car door when I looked at my back tire and saw it was flat.

           “You got to be kidding me.”

           I turned around and instead of going back to my home I went to the backyard and walked across the field. Barely did I step onto the field and the rain came. It turned into a downpour.

           “I don’t care,” I thought as I kept walking until I came to my present spot and cried out.

           I stand there as the rain soaks me.

           “My life is falling apart.”

           Have faith. Have patience.

           I looked around, wondering if someone spoke such words. But who am I fooling for I did not hear those words, but from within.

           “God?”

           I think of the time I was young and had terrible nightmares. My mother told me to pray. I did and never had nightmares of that magnitude again. Then the day my mother passed. Raising her arms like she did at church. Then she slumped over. Did she see the Lord coming to bring her home? Other events took place that I knew God had a hand on it.

           “And now I am yelling at you,” I said. “Sorry.”

           I go back to my home, finding out I have a can of soup I can have for dinner. As I eat there is a knock on the door.

           “Hello neighbor,” said Jack, who lives close by.

           “Hello, Fred. How can I help you?”

           “I am here to help you. I see you have a flat tire. I checked it out and you have a nail. Luckily, not too bad. I can pull it out and I have the goods to plug up the hole. I can also air it up and you will be good to go.”

           Once again I was speechless, but in a good way.

           “Sounds like a plan?” he asks.

           “Yes indeed,” I say with a smile.

           Time went by and I ended up getting a job that I figured there was not a chance I could get since I had little skills. A job that paid much more and a better environment.

           “God will give you favoritism,” my dad told me. “They saw something special in you. With that you owe the big man a thank you.”

           Soon after I met Lisa. Nine months later we married. The reason is that I realized she had a better attitude and was so uplifting. She is a woman who is incredibly involved in the church and shows compassion and love to all. I also found out Marisa started seeing a man a couple of months before she gave me the shocking news that turned out to be welcoming news.

           Then the last bit of news I found out was at Bill’s funeral, when his mother told me he accepted the Lord into his life a week before his death. The dark cloud in my life was completely extinguished.

           Life that had gone down the dark, dank road, turned around and now is going down a sunny, dry road.

           Faith. Patience. And a huge thank you to God.