Well I am out on the back porch again, this time with a very reluctant dog. There is a thunderstorm moving through the area, and because of it the cat has abandoned her post. Viper, who is often called a stalker or trailer in our home because he will follow you everywhere, stood at the door to the porch and just watched me until I talked him into coming out. He wants to be with me, just not in the line of what he considers to be considerable danger.

But though they hate it, I love storms very much. I have been fascinated by them my whole life. We used to watch them come in all the time, and where I am from just north of here, the weather is quite a bit more frequent and spectacular! I loved it!

One of the interesting things about my life is that I was actually struck by lightening when I was 16. I only remember the before and the after. I was thrown, not burned, nor did I even go to the hospital. (I would like to say it was because I was too tough, but in retrospect it was because I was too stupid.) But it makes for a pretty cool story and the detailed version is pretty rare. Many people do not survive such things. (AND yes, the picture is the clock being struck by lightening in “Back to the Future.”)

But, of course, I did. And lots of things have changed in this life because of it.

We make the most of the time we have on this good earth and tonight I am thankful for the beauty and the power of these storms. Afraid? Nope, not at all. They remind me of the One who was and is, and is to come. He has knocked me on my backside three different times in my life and each time I have been thankful about continuing on (lightening 1977, liver tumor 1989, stroke 2008) (Okay Lord, no more….I GET IT). But let me just say on this “dark and stormy night” (Snoopy in Peanuts – pick a year) that life is precious, not just each day, but each and every breath. And tonight I thank God for each one!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+