Storm Tossed: A troubled woman finds peace with herself and God in the midst of life's storms.

by Beth Jones

  Tears flowed down his face. Thank you, God. Thank you, Jesus. God, thank you so much. Your mercy endures forever, he prayed.

  *******

  The night nurse had turned down the lights for the patients to sleep. Ben waited until she left the room, then crawled into the hospital bed with Mandy. Her leg was going to be okay. She had a minor concussion.

  “I know you don’t feel so hot,” he whispered in her ear, “but you look hot. Have you ever done it in a hospital bed before?”

  Mandy giggled. “I can’t say that I have,” she said, kissing him. “I’m just so thankful we are both okay. Ben, do you know that God protected our very lives?”

  “Yes,” he answered. “I just wish Andy—“and his voice broke. Andy had survived the hurricane, but his leg’s deep cut developed an infection and he had died shortly after being admitted to the hospital.

  “I know, honey,” she said, tears welling up in her eyes. “I know. Did your mom say when the memorial service is?”

  “Not yet,” he said. A couple days from now. You should be discharged by then. Jim flew today to stay with his brother Phil for a while in North Little Rock, Arkansas. I got to say bye to him before lunch. He’s still broken up over Paula, but he’s a military man and he’s going to finish strong. They’re doing a memorial service later for her. He said to tell you he’ll see you around. He invited us to come there if we need a temporary place to stay. But I told him I got a new job and that we planned to just pack up and move to Daytona after you get out of here.”

  “That was sweet of him to invite us. What about Gail? How is she doing?” Mandy was most concerned about her.

  “Oh, Gail’s son Rick flew into Fort Walton to pick her up yesterday and flew her back with him last night. He’s already arranged for a really nice nursing home to take care of her. He says it’s probably going to break the bank, but the facility is close, so he, his wife and their three kids can visit her a lot. She’ll really like that. I think this hurricane shifted his and his family’s perspectives some on things. They realized they almost lost her. It seems like God has brought good even out of this terrible tragedy. It’s amazing how God can do stuff like that.”

  “Good, I’m glad,” Mandy said, looking relieved. “Gail is precious. And Paula’s death has been so hard on her. On all of us. She did accept Christ when we were in the canoe, did I tell you that? Yes, God is good.” She smiled through her tears at him. He traced her face with his fingers, silently thanking God for His grace to save him and his wife. God, I’m all in now. I can’t thank you enough Mandy is alive, he prayed. This storm had changed his life forever.

  “I’m just glad that you are okay. Do you know how much I love you, Ben Pearce?” Mandy asked.

  “Show me,” he said, smiling, and kissing her deeply. That night, their first child, a red-haired, beautiful girl they named Anna, was conceived in the hospital bed and born nine months later, a perfectly healthy baby. Mandy nicknamed her “Anna-banana,” because she loved bananas so much as a toddler.

  ********

  The flight attendant wheeled Rachel out of the Delta Airlines plane after everyone else had deboarded. Jackson and Faith waited anxiously, hardly able to contain their excitement. They both had major butterflies in their stomach at seeing her, and she felt the same.

  Jackson had a bouquet of fresh, long-stemmed red and yellow roses and white daisies, her favorite flowers, and a big box of chocolate ready for her. As soon as he saw her familiar face, tears streamed down his cheeks.

  “There she is,” he said hoarsely to Faith, who grabbed his arm. It hardly seemed real. Rachel was pale, she was 15 pounds thinner, she had a touch of pneumonia, but she was alive. Thank you, God. Thank you so much that you saved mom’s life, Faith prayed, big tears in her eyes. Mom still looked so pretty. Mom was really alive!

  They had to wait until the Asian flight attendant brought her through the exit doors, but they were already running toward her. She stood up, running toward them, too, bursting into tears at the precious sight of their faces.

  She hugged Faith first, whispering, “Do you know how much I love you, Faith? I didn’t know if I’d ever see you again!” and Faith said, “Yes, I know. I’m so glad you’re okay and you’re here now, safe! I love you, too, mom.”

  Faith had finally done it. She had told her mom, “I love you,” after years of not doing so. It was worth everything Rachel had gone through just to hear these words of gold.

  Knowing that Faith wasn’t a “hugger,” she released her after a few seconds and smiled again at her through her tears, drinking in her beautiful, precious face. Rachel’s heart overflowed with gratitude to God for this second chance with everyone and everything.

  She then turned to her husband Jackson, and he could have eaten her up. God, she was so beautiful. She looked into his eyes, an assurance now in her heart that God was already healing their marriage and finally knowing that, yes, she really did love him and wanted things to work out between them. It had taken a hurricane to show her the depths of her heart and what really mattered in life. God had given her peace in the midst of that physical storm, as well as speaking peace to the storm in her heart.

  Jackson was physically shaking. He wrapped his arms around her and said, “Rachel, Rachel. Oh sweetie, I can’t tell you the hell I’ve been through, so worried about you. Thank God! I love you so much!” and they kissed passionately, not caring that others watched.

  Faith smiled, blushed, and looked away, but was secretly pleased. The flight attendant giggled, and rolled away the wheel chair, giving Faith her mom’s tickets and her antibiotics medicine.

  Jackson held Rachel in his arms. She leaned into his broad chest, his strong arms surrounding her in protection and love like an impenetrable fortress, tears of gratitude falling down their faces.

  “It’s going to be okay,” he whispered softly, kissing her again.

  And Rachel knew it would be. She was home.

  Discussion Questions

  Chapter 1—The Storm

  How does the storm set the tone of the book? What storms have you faced in your life?

  How does the storm parallel Rachel’s marriage? Study the disaster kit that Rachel prepares for the hurricane. What are ways you can “storm proof” your marriage or another difficult relationship?

  Rachel’s neighbors in Florida helped her to board the windows of her beach house to prepare for the hurricane. One time I had a mentor, Nicki Cantrell, who said that God spoke to her heart to board up her windows with prayer because of storms coming (natural ones and spiritual). Are you boarding your life, developing a closer relationship with God through daily prayer, worship, and Bible study? What does your devotional time look like—consistent, hit and miss, or MIA?

  Rachel didn’t listen to her husband Jackson’s or their daughter’s warning to come home. Think of a time that you didn’t listen to God or others. What were the results?

  Rachel travels to Destin (a play on the word “destiny”) to find peace with herself and God. Do you have this? What will give you peace?

  Rachel’s brother Jerry keeps his distance from others. Rachel muses that we’re afraid of others seeing who we really are. In what ways do you wear a mask and pretend to keep your safe distance?

  Chapter 2—Colorless

  There was a traffic jam on Mid-Bay Bridge at the beginning of this chapter. In what area of life are you “stuck”? What do you think the solution is?

  Rachel has changed her lifestyle to become more fit and healthy, but she has a guilty secret—Ben and Jerry’s Peanut Butter Fudge Core ice cream. Do you have a guilty secret? In what ways do you hide or escape from God and the world?

  One day Jackson really looked at Rachel, noticing she had lost weight. Do you see others as they really are, their hearts? Do you see yourself as you really are, made in God’s beautiful, perfect image or through a critical, distorted lens?

  Rachel didn’t feel that Jackson or Autumn loved her unconditionally. Do you believe Go
d loves you unconditionally? Describe God. What is your view of Him? How does He show He loves and cares about you? Give examples of where God has shown you in a special way that He loves you. One example of my own is that when I see a male, bright red cardinal that is God’s special little “sign” to me that He loves me.

  Rachel reads from Anne Morrow Lindbergh’s book, Bring Me a Unicorn, where she describes in her journal how things seem “colorless,” depressing, a “pervading cold.” How does your life seem colorless? How can you bring more color, passion, and happiness into your life?

  Rachel was devastated over Jackson’s emotional affair with the “floozy.” She felt “afflicted.” What afflictions (storms) have you recently gone through? What did you learn from this? Do you need to forgive God or someone?

  Chapter 3—Waiting

  Rachel always seemed to be waiting for something. Is your life on hold? What are you waiting on to begin fulfilling your calling and destiny? Start now.

  If this was several years ago, Rachel would have been “stress eating.” How does physical hunger/food become a substitute for spiritual hunger for God? Is your belly your god? Recommended Reading: Made to Crave: Satisfying Your Deepest Desire With God, Not Food, by Lysa TerKeurst, available at Amazon, http://www.amazon.com/Made-Crave-Satisfying-Deepest-Desire/dp/031029326X

  From day one, Satan had done everything he could to stop Jackson and Rachel from ministering together, because when they did, God’s power fell. How has the enemy tried to stop or hinder you from fulfilling your purpose and calling?

  God tells Rachel to pray for her marriage in the middle of the storm; she doesn’t want to do this. Has God ever told you to pray for or do something for someone that you didn’t want to? Who do you need to pray for today?

  Lightning and thunder strike hard as God challenged Rachel, Do you love Jackson? Who is someone in your life whom God is challenging you to love? It may even be yourself.

  Rachel struggled with submitting to her husband as God commands wives to do in Ephesians 5:22-23. Do you easily submit to your husband—or to God?

  Chapter 4—Dreams

  The chapter starts with Rachel’s nightmare. What are you afraid of? Write it down. Renew your mind with the truth of God’s word to replace the fear. For example, “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” (2 Timothy 1:7)

  The Topsider home that Rachel rented during her stay in Florida was supposed to be “hurricane proof.” Read the passage in Matthew 7:24-27 about the man who built his house on the rock and the man who built his house on the sand, and the rain and the wind came. Are you hurricane-proofing your life with faith in Christ?

  At what point does Rachel long to have Jackson’s arms around her? Do adversities in our lives cause us to grow closer to God and others, or push us away from them? Do you believe this is a choice? Read Job 2 about Job’s and Job’s wife’s different responses to God and life, when Job loses his property and all his children and boils break out all over his body.

  Rachel hears the wind wailing outside, like sirens luring sailors to their death. She told herself that she had read too many stories about shipwrecks and sirens. In what ways have books influenced you? What book, other than the Bible, has impacted you the most and why? What “aha” have you gotten out of this eBook, Storm Tossed? I’d really appreciate it if you would please leave your review of this eBook at Amazon!

  Rachel is a control freak and has to turn on the weather radio to hear what’s going on, even though it may scare her to hear it. In what ways are you a “control freak”? How do you try to take control, instead of “letting go and letting God” (and trusting Him)?

  Rachel reads Anne Morrow Lindbergh’s book, Gift From The Sea, about woman spilling herself away for others. Rachel feels too empty inside to give any more to Jackson, like the empty sea shell she found on the beach. Do you feel empty? What would help to fill you up? How can you spend more time being refreshed each day to not feel so drained?

  Chapter 5—Storm Surge

  Autumn is successful in her college studies and therapist work, but is lonely and desperate for a husband. Are you lonely? Read and meditate on Proverbs 18:24 on being a friend to have a friend. Pray and ask God to send a good friend into your life (a female one if you’re a woman, and a male one if you’re a man).

  Autumn doesn’t even go to her own niece’s wedding because it hurts too much, reminding her of her loneliness and singleness. When was a time that you avoided God, a person, or a social situation because it hurt too much? How could it have turned out differently if you hadn’t avoided or run from that situation?

  Autumn views God as cruel. Do you believe that God is mean, or good? In what way might your view of God be slightly distorted? Ask God to reveal the truth about Himself to you and the truth of how He sees you.

  The night Morgan discovered her husband sexually abusing their daughter Kelly, she sensed an evil presence in the house. Have you ever felt this before? Do you believe demons exist?

  Morgan uses the TV at the hospital to not think about that night when she found her husband sexually abusing Kelly. What things do you turn to instead of God to cope with your pain and your life? Entertainment, such as reality shows, Scandal, Dancing With The Stars? Social media? Food? Shopping? Drug or alcohol? Staying busy? Cleaning? Today take a social media or entertainment fast. Spend time with God, your family, or alone. You’ll be amazed at how it will benefit and refresh you.

  Jackson thinks that Rachel is made of steel. Is this true about her? Are you? Do you wear your heart on your sleeve, bottle your feelings, or express your emotions in a healthy way?

  Chapter 6—Survival

  I am a survivor of childhood sexual and physical abuse, domestic violence, two divorces, three abortions, four car wrecks, the foreclosure of our home, bankruptcy, and a very difficult marriage of 23 years. What have you survived and overcome? Listen to Kelly Clarkson’s song, Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You), on YouTube. Your story is part of who you uniquely are. Find ways to tell your story to others. Share a little of it now. You can read my Amazon Best Seller in its category and sub-categories memoir, Promises In The Dark: One Woman’s Search for Authentic Love, here: hyperurl.co/grb3dr

  Twenty-two people died from flash floods from the Blanco River in Wimberley, Texas. Do you feel ready to die and meet God? What are your dreams? What things would you like to accomplish or see happen before you die?

  An army of angels is surrounding Rachel in the hurricane. Have you ever sensed or seen an angel or angels? Do you know anyone who has?

  During the hurricane, the belongings Rachel brought with her to the beach house in Florida are ruined. What are your greatest physical treasures? What would you try to save, besides yourself and your family, if you could?

  Rachel feels with the booming thunder outside that God is practically shouting at her. What is God shouting to you right now? Close your eyes. Get quiet. Listen. What is God saying to you?

  The ocean and Rachel’s beach house room with the books, sea shells, starfish, and blue bottles of sand are her haven. Describe your perfect haven. Journal about it.

  Chapter 7—Aftermath

  Autumn is drinking red wine in the teal blue crackle wine glass and eating Godiva chocolate. She wants company and thinks being alone “sucks.” Are you comfortable being alone, or do you always need to have people around?

  When Autumn asks God why He doesn’t do something about child abuse and other evils in the world, He tells her He did, He created her. What is God asking you to do?

  Rachel told Autumn that God had never moved. Have you moved away from God? Read my Amazon Best Seller in its category and sub-categories prayer book, Walking With God, here: http://hyperurl.co/lh1pm5

  Autumn wants Rachel to be the kind of mom she wants and needs. Are you trying to mold and make someone into what you want and how? Examine any unrealistic expectations you may have of God, a spouse, a child, a stepparent or stepchild, a sibling
, a friend, a boss, etc. Give room for God’s grace.

  In her 50’s, Rachel is more alive than ever. What can you start doing today to feel alive? To start living more abundantly? What would you change about your life if you could? Start right now.

  Ben takes Gail hitting him and screaming at him because he knows grief has many faces and that she’s distraught over her sister Janine’s death from the hurricane. What loss have you experienced in your life? A loved one’s death? A miscarriage or abortion? Divorce or separation? Financial crisis? Loss of reputation? A dream that died? Have you allowed yourself time to grieve? Remember that God promises in Psalm 30:5 AKJV, “weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.”

  Chapter 8—Alone

  How do Jackson and his dad connect at night on the farm? In what simple ways can you rekindle your marriage? A walk at night? Watching a movie together alone (no kids!), eating buttered popcorn? Going out to eat Mexican or Chinese? Talking about more than the kids or the bills? A vacation to Bora Bora alone? How can you connect in simple ways with your kids, spending time with them and showing them you love and value them? Read the book Love Languages by Gary D. Chapman at Amazon. Find out what your spouse’s and kids’ love languages are and then use them to convey your love. http://www.amazon.com/The-Love-Languages-Secret-Lasts/dp/080241270X

  How are Autumn and Faith different as kids? How are your children different? How are you and your siblings different from each other? Celebrate those differences, as God made each of us unique!

  Faith was really worried about her mom Rachel in the hurricane. How is Rachel a good mom? Journal about your relationship with your mom.

  Why does it take a hurricane to make Rachel and her family realize their love for each other and to forgive? What crisis has happened in your life to cause you to “wake up”?