Do you know somebody who has been struck by lightning? I’m not talking about being close to a strike. I’m referring to a bolt of lightning actually touching them. Most people don’t, but I know someone who experienced this.
First, let me say that when I was growing up, my family always took lightning safety very seriously. No, they didn’t have a phobia of storms. But when one came up, my mom and grandparents would always make sure all of the doors and windows were closed. Also, they wouldn’t turn on appliances unless it was absolutely necessary. Unfortunately for me, this also included the TVs. Mamaw Jo took it a step further by not allowing any animals in the house. She always said they drew lightning.
Then one day a storm came up when I was still a kid. Mom turned the TV off in the middle of “Lost in Space.” Needless to say, I whined and begged for her to turn it back on. That’s when she told me about an incident that happened when she was a teenager. They were all watching a small TV that was sitting on the kitchen counter. It began to storm and lightning ran into the TV through the plug. She said that was the loudest pop she had ever heard. The little TV screen exploded out as it jumped up and off the counter. The pieces of the screen lay in small shreds across the counter and floor. She said they had never seen anything like it. The pieces were very reflective and almost glowed. From that time on, they took lighting very seriously.
Her story stirred up my curiosity, so I began to read up on lighting. I had no idea how truly powerful and bizarre it was. That’s when my fear switched from thunder to lightning. Yes, you read that correctly. When I was little, I was more afraid of thunder. I know that sounds strange, even for me. As I have previously discussed, I have never liked sudden loud noises. To this day I can’t stand to hear a balloon pop. So, from that point on, I was the one who made sure nobody ran any water, talked on the phone, or had any appliances plugged in during a storm. I even did this when my friends were over at our house. They thought I was overreacting. All except one.
The first summer Tim and I were dating, it began to storm while we were watching TV at my mom’s house. Immediately, I went into my lightning safety mode. I turned off the TV and made sure the windows were closed. While he didn’t like the TV being turned off, he did agree with me shutting the windows, He said he found out the hard way that lightning likes open windows. When he was ten years old, he was lying on his bed and watching TV one Saturday morning as it was beginning to storm. A bolt of lightning struck the tree outside of his bedroom. Then it bounced off it and came through the open window to strike his foot. He said his foot was numb for about an hour. As for the tree, the lightning cracked it down the middle and killed it. I asked if that made him afraid of lightning. He shrugged his shoulders and answered: “Not really.” I simply couldn’t understand that. At all. So, I asked him: “You sure it didn’t strike you in the head?”

“Canst thou send lightnings, that they may go and say unto thee, Here we are?” Job 38:35 KJV
I love this part of Job. The Lord is challenging him as to who controls where and when lightning will strike. In other words, God is the only One who has complete and total power over creation. So, Tim had it right not to be fearful. Instead, we need to pray about it and trust in The Lord and His will.
The picture I was used is of my grandson Maverick’s feet. I was going to use one of Tim’s, but I thought Maverick’s was prettier. By the way, they probably smell better too.

Brooke Cox is an author, speaker, and storyteller. She was a 2016 Selah Awards Finalist for Debut Novel. Her children’s book: “Dinosaur Eggs,” is now available. It is based on Ephesians 6: The Armor of God. Her novel “Until the Moon Rises: A Conniving Cousin Mystery” is also available. Also, she has two books out in her storytelling series: “Saucy Southern Stories.” The Amazon links for her books may be found on her website: brookecoxstories.com. Please feel free to contact her. She would love to hear from you.