In the middle of a big storm, our young nectarines bloomed. I walked out into the orchard because I couldn’t believe my eyes. “What are you doing?” I asked the confused little trees. “The weather is terrible. Why are you opening your blossoms?”

I know it’s weird to talk to trees, but Jesus spoke to a fig tree in the Bible so I figure if Jesus spoke to trees, I can too. I was alarmed that our nectarines were blooming in the middle of hail, rain, and wild winds. Of course, the trees didn’t talk back to me, but a thought whispered through my mind there in the orchard… they are blooming because it’s time for them to bloom.

What does this mean? I wondered. I sensed God trying to teach me something, but I really didn’t know what it was.

In the past several months, one storm after another has rolled through my life. Sharing my burdens with you helps me not feel alone. Hashing out trials and tribulations here on my blog has been such a gift. And many of you hash back. You message me, email me, some of you even call, and we pray together about our struggles. I deeply appreciate all of you. But I can’t tell you why I am hurting right now so I’ll tell you about the rainstorms that have pounded us instead.

Our orchards are flooded. The rains have been unrelenting. There’s so much snow in the California mountains, they can’t even run the ski lifts or snow plows in Tahoe. That’s a ton of snow.

Several years ago, during the drought, California’s governor informed everyone that California was entering a 500-year mega-drought due to global warming. The governor insisted California was never going to see real snow in the mountains again and everyone must stop watering their lawns forever. The state was pushing to take control of California’s water.

I have to be honest. This made me so mad. Farmers need rain in the valley, and snow in the mountains, because as that snow melts, it flows down the rivers and waters the farms. I went to my bedroom, got down on my knees, and bowed my head in prayer. “The Bible says you are in charge of the weather, Lord. Please show the governor that you are God. Bring back the rain and snow. Put Governor Brown in a boat like Noah. Humble that man with a flood.”

I know. That furious prayer was not my finest hour. When the Oroville dam was ready to break from all the heavy rains a year after my prayer, I got down on my knees again in my bedroom and begged God not to flood Sacramento. “I’m sorry I’m so dumb,” I told the Lord. “Please have mercy on Governor Brown and California. Please, don’t put any of us in an ark in the Sacramento Valley.”

Now here we are two years later with plenty more rain. The only time our farm’s ravine runs with water is during very wet storms. It’s rained so much these past several weeks that our ravine has turned into a river. You can see how the grass five feet up on the banks is washed flat. That’s because the water got that high two nights ago.

Here is our ravine on New Year’s Day a few years back.

And below is a photo of our ravine today. Thanks to this last powerful storm, the boys have a new log bridge. They had so much fun walking back and forth upon this old cottonwood the raging water deposited here this past weekend. There is also a new sandbank where a shore of rocks used to be. The boys jumped off the log into the soft sand again and again because that’s what boys do.

And here is Patrick Swayze. Our 16 year old son’s football coaches dubbed him this, I think maybe it’s the jeans with no shirt look. John came home from practice this past fall asking who Swayze was so I pulled the actor up on the Internet for John to read about. I couldn’t believe my kid didn’t know Johnny Castle from Dirty Dancing. Remember the log scene in that movie? I guess there is a resemblance here.

I’m sorry I haven’t told you much about my personal storms. If you’re like me, you’re wondering what is going on. It’s not my health. It’s not my marriage. I wish I could tell you my troubles but for now, I can’t. But I can tell you this, God has made it very clear to me that I am to bloom in these storms.

The day I walked out and asked the nectarines why they were blooming a few weeks ago, I didn’t understand what God was trying to teach me. Now I know.

I’m supposed to bloom into the image of Christ in all this bad weather. Storms in our lives are to make us more like Jesus.

It struck me that our boys had so much fun in their new ravine playground yesterday. The powerful storms have changed the landscape of our farm, and the truth is, it’s a better landscape. I’m hoping for a better landscape in my life after all these storms pass.

And in spite of the weather, the blooms are multiplying in the orchard. Yesterday I saw one brave little bee in the blossoms. I know he was cold, but he was doing his job, pollinating the almonds. Thank God for hard-working honey bees. And thank God for the storms that soften our hearts and make us more like our Savior.

I wanted to leave you with a promise from God: “How great is the goodness you have stored up for those who fear you. You lavish it on those who come to you for protection. Blessing them before the watching world. You hide them in the shelter of your presence, safe from those who conspire against them. You shelter them in your presence, far from accusing tongues.”