(The following is a children’s message presented  delivered October 10th, at Asbury Church.)

I am sure that many of you have heard of the Hurricane that hit the east coast this past month.    They called it Hurricane Earl.  For those of you who don’t know a hurricane begins as what is called a tropical depression, which is basically a storm that forms in the ocean.   In many cases when a tropical depression becomes bigger, and when the winds reach greater than 75mph, they no longer call it a depression, or a storm, but they call it a hurricane.

Hurricanes are scary and dangerous things.   There were two major hurricanes in Florida when I lived there.   Although we lived in the center of the state, about an hour from the Atlantic and an hour from the Gulf of Mexico, they were still pretty scary.    I remember as a kid, covering our windows with plywood, and putting masking tape on our glass sliding doors, so in case it windy enough to break glass it would not shatter into our living room.
At the height of the storm, I remember opening up some of the uncovered  windows to allow the wind to flow easily through the house, and watching the storm from the safety of our family room.   

In each hurricane, the very center is usually free of all type of weather problems, and you can see it clearly as it passes overhead.   They call it the “eye” of the hurricane.  In school we were all warned not to be fooled by it, and to stay inside.   When you were in the eye it seemed all peaceful, but it would always be followed by more storms as the eye of the hurricane passed over.

Thankfully, because we live so far from the ocean hurricanes usually are not that serious for us.    When a hurricane passes, you and I usually get a stormy and windy day, but we don’t have to worry much about broken glass.

As I watched the news this week, I happened to see a newscast of a man and his child in the Carolina’s running up and down the beach as the wind howled, and waves crashed around them.   There in the middle of this incredible storm, they were flying a kite.    The rain is pelting them from all directions, and there is this father holding on to his daughters waist, in fear that she would be blown away, as they flew a kite in a hurricane.    

The reporter who caught the scene, asked him what many must have been wondering;  “What are you thinking flying a kite in a hurricane?”

His response was simple:   “You have never really lived until you have flown a kite in a hurricane.   It’s a blessing!”

My response?    That Dad must be out of his mind.   

Sometimes many of our neighbors don’t have the sense that God gave them, and they do some really dangerous and dumb stuff.   Hurricanes, unlike in Keene and Chesterfield, are dangerous on a beach.   Flying a kite during one is simply not smart.

As I watched it further, I started to see something else in the video.

I started to see a lot of things that reminded me of faith, and God, and the church.

There were four things that caught my attention, and made me think about life in general.

1.) The Storm itself.  

There are many times when life gets dark and scary.  In those moments, it feels like we are standing in the harshest part of the hurricane.     Maybe it is those times when we are sick, sad, or in trouble.   Those moments certainly feel as dark, dangerous, and scary as a hurricane.

2.) Is the Kite flyer.  

When the hurricane comes it is always smartest to run and take cover.   It’s always better to be inside and dry then out in the storm.   Unfortunately, when the dark times come in life, hiding is not an option.   We have to stand in the wind, and face the storm head on.     In life, there is no hiding from those bad times.

3.) Is the Kite Itself.   

When faced with a storm, the best thing they thought they could do was fly a kite.   Although we might think to do so was rather dumb, when the scary times of life come we have a kite to fly to. 

Any ideas what our kite is?
For people of faith, our kite is called prayer.   When we are scared, the most powerful tool we have to find strength is always turning to God in conversation.  Like them thinking that flying a kite is a blessing, sending prayers to God is a blessing for us.

And then there is one other thing in the video that really struck me as being very similar to our faith….  

4.) The Father.    The kite flyer was flying a kite in incredible, 75 mile per hour winds.    At that speed, if they weren’t careful the wind could pick up that little girl.      That’s the same with our scary times.   If we are not careful, we can get lost as well.
What did the father do to keep his daughter safe?   He held onto her.

As people of faith, we have someone holding on to us too.   When times are scary for us, we will never have to go it alone.   The promise of our faith is an easy one to remember:    God will always hold on to us, so we too will not get blown away.

So together we need to remember these 4 important truths:

• Sometimes life does get stormy, and scary.
• Although sometimes we want to run and hide, we have to face them head on.
• The best blessing we have in these moments, is to fly our own kite…or offer a prayer up to God.   When we are scared we need to remember that talking to God is our best option.
• Lastly, we can never, ever forget, that we have someone who is holding onto us, and He will never let go.   

If we remember that there is no storm that is too big or too dangerous, for us to make it through okay.