Sheltered In The Arms Of God

My mother was terrified of storms.  Any time a dark cloud would linger on the horizon and the wind would start to kick up a bit, she would warn us to all sit down and be quiet.  "It's comin' up a cloud!" She'd say, and we would usually obey her orders.  I guess you could say she instilled within us as well, her nearly irrational fear of stormy weather.

She told us stories of the devastation she had witnessed from the ravages of storms: a family member's home that was picked up and tossed about by a tornado, another relative who was struck by lightening while stirring a pot on a stove.  This was a woman whose bravery in the face of illness allowed her to care for my aunt who was dying from cancer, night after night without respite.  A woman who once fired a gun at a would-be intruder and accidentally shot a howling dog trying to scare it away.  She was fiercely protective of her children, causing a scene more than once when she felt one of her daughters had been the victim of some injustice.  She was often stubborn and ornery, determined to have her way even when the odds were against her; but something as simple as a clap of thunder could humble her in a second.

I suppose nearly everyone has some kind of irrational fear that they carry with them throughout life. For some of us its spiders or snakes or heights.  For others its public speaking or roller coasters--things that though they inspire fear in our hearts, are usually quite avoidable.  But storms are something over which we have no control.  Perhaps that lack of control was what my mother found so incredibly frightening about strong wind, heavy rain and angry lightening licking the ground with abandon all around her.  There was no way to stop it, no way to slow it down or change its direction.  Storms were something over which she was powerless, something that made her have to rely on nothing more than her faith in God until the winds calmed and the thunder faded into the distance.

She taught us as children, to sit quietly in reverence to the power of a storm.  It just seemed like tempting God to her if we carried on with business as usual while the weather raged all around us.  It gave her some strange sense of peace I think, to stop the chatter, the playful running around, the chores as usual to just sit and listen as the awesome power of nature drew near, lingered for a while and then began to drift away, moving on to its new destination, leaving us in peace to resume our day with a renewed sense of gratefulness for having survived the turmoil.

My mother was no stranger to the storms of life.  She weathered many that came to her in the form of physical challenges, heartbreak and disappointment.  She suffered with pain in her body for years, day in and day out, seeking relief from it, but never quite finding it.  She suffered the loss of her parents, her friends and even a pregnancy.  She stood strong as a rock for my father as he suffered through painful illnesses, the losses of his own parents and some friends.  She knew the uncertainty of need as my parents struggled to financially provide for 5 daughters and give us all we needed to be healthy and happy.  She helped her daughters find strength to weather their own tribulations and experienced our heartbreaks and struggles as acutely as we  felt them ourselves.

So it is no wonder to me that my mother found great comfort in the song "Sheltered in The Arms of God."  Ever since I got the call this morning that my mother had taken her last breath with my father by her side, the words of that old hymn have been playing in my head.  I've even found myself humming it quietly to myself a few times--feeling the same kind of comfort it must have given her over the years.  On Tuesday my nieces will sing it at her funeral, a reminder to all of us that she is finally in a place where storms can no longer threaten her peace of mind.  She is tucked securely into the shelter of God's arms, where no matter how high the storms may rage, she will never be afraid again.

In memory of my mother, here are the lyrics to that sweet song:

I feel the touch of hands so kind and gentle,
They're leading me in paths that I must trod;
I have no fear when Jesus walks beside me,
For I'm sheltered in the arms of God.

So let the storms rage high, the dark clouds rise,
They won't worry me for I'm sheltered safe within the arms of God;
He walks with me and naught of Earth can harm me,
Sheltered safe within the arms of God.

Soon I shall hear the call from Heaven's portals,
Come home my child, it's the last mile you must trod;
I'll fall asleep and wake in God's new Heaven,
Sheltered safe within the arms of God.

So let the storms rage high, the dark clouds rise,
They won't worry me for I'm sheltered safe within the arms of God;
He walks with me and naught of Earth can harm me,
Sheltered safe within the arms of God.

Sheltered safe within the arms of God!