Severe Weather

Actually we're not having any severe weather right now although we are under a severe storm watch.  I just thought it would make a catchy title.  We had some good rain last night but the severe stuff passed to the South.  No telling what will happen later today.  The watch is on until 10:00 PM.  We need the rain.  Still hot, in the 90's but at least it's not in the 100's.  Hopefully that kind of heat is over for the year. 

The spider is still out there.  I noticed that he moves his web every now and then.  He disappeared for a little while and I thought a bird got him.  Then I noticed that he had set up shop in a different location in the flowerbed.  He has held out through wind and rain.  The wind beat up the web but the rain didn't seem to bother it very much.  But then it wasn't a hard rain either.  I finally decided to take a picture of him.  I have no idea what kind of spider it is.  But, he's free to do his thing, for now anyway.

I'm finally gaining a better understanding of why my dad was the way he was.  He was always a very angry person, very short tempered.  I read a book about the soldiers who liberated the concentration camps during WWII.  The guy who wrote the book said that they had a lot of pent up anger.  Today, over 60 years later, they still dealt with anger, flashbacks and nightmares.  It wasn't just because of the camps but also from being in combat.  The guy who wrote the book is a Vietnam veteran and he said a lot of, maybe most combat veterans had troubles to some extent.  My father was a combat vet from WWII and he was with General Eisenhower when he toured some of the terrible concentration camps.  My dad mentioned it but didn't talk a lot about it.  When they came home no one wanted to hear about what they had seen and experienced.  They said the war is over, move on.  But, when you've been through something like that you can't just "move on."  You have to come to terms with it somehow.  The WWII vets didn't have much help.  My dad said a few things about the war but probably not as much as he needed too.  If he were alive today I would encourage him to talk about his experiences.  The soldiers coming back from Iraq and Afghanistan need to talk too.  We should listen to them. 

After reading that book I felt a need for something more positive.  So I read The Hiding Place by Corrie ten Boom.  I read it once years ago but this time I got a great deal out of it.  She had been through some horrible things.  She said that people in prison would drive themselves nuts worrying about their families.  Something her father taught her as a child helped her to deal with it.  He said that some loads are just too heavy to bear and we should give them to our Father to carry.  Casting all your anxiety upon Him, because He cares for you.  1 Peter 5:7.  Another thing that she was concerned about was that if she ended up in custody would she be able to bear up under questioning and not betray anyone.  Something else that her father told her helped.  God gives us the courage at the proper time when we need it.  Forgiveness is very important.  Anger and hate only eat you up.  Her story is very inspiring.  I've benefited from reading it again. 

I've been really energetic this week.  I did two paintings.  Both are based on magazine photos.  The first is a young woman done with semi-hard pastels.  The second is an ocean wave done in oil pastels. 

Not that I speak from want; for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am.  I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need.  I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.

Philippians 4:11-13.