It's all about attitude

A weekend. I feel like this is the calm before the storm.

No. That's the wrong metaphor.

On Thursday, a fast and furious storm passed over our area over the time span of 40 minutes. It was so intense that it spawned at least one confirmed tornado within 5 miles of us. I took this picture on my phone from my office window as it approached. (Yes, I moved farther into the building after this.) It came on fast, a solid wall of water and wind. It uprooted healthy, mature trees. It caused most residents to seek safety in their basements. And of course, it caused sustained black outs in power.

I think of the helplessness that Charles and I felt while we were waiting to do the diagnostic MRI on June 4th. We had kept it from friends and family for 6 days as to not worry them unnecessarily. It felt like we were cowering in the basement, hoping for the storm to pass over us with little damage so we could forget it ever happened and move on with our lives.

Now that this is public (so very public), hundreds of people are rallying behind us to help in so many ways. The verbal, postal, and electronic communication is off the hook. I know God is getting bombarded with prayers for us at any given minute. While it may feel calm when it's just us hanging with the kids, there is still such a flurry of activity going on in the background at all times. We feel so supported in ways we never knew we would. It makes us realize just how many people truly care about us.

This is not the calm before the storm. The surgery is not the storm. We are the storm. I imagine all of us locking arms and forming a chain of fury, approaching this tumor like a ferocious wall of water and wind. It need not take cover in the metaphoric basement because this storm will demolish all.