WHERE I WAS WHEN THE THUNDER BOOMED

3:09am. A huge clap of thunder boomed, jarring my babies out of their sleep.

And my hands were on their heads when it happened.

I happened to be in their room praying over them in that very moment. The heavy rains woke me, and when I wake in the night, my go-to place is their room to put my hands on their heads and pray, pray, pray.

And then suddenly, *BOOM.* They both sat up quickly, looking terrified. But they seemed comforted that I was already right there.

Because usually I'm down the hall, asleep in my own bed. That's the norm. They'll call for me, and I'll book it down the hall to get to them. But I'm not typically already right there, with my hands on their heads.

And I think it's also where we assume God is when a storm hits--down some hall, until summoned. Sometimes it feels like when things fall apart, we think we need to call for Him, disturbing His slumber while He rushes down the hall to tend to us. Oh, maybe we believe He'll come running--but we think He has to, because we think He's elsewhere when we call.

But what if we believed in the presence of God? What kind of peace could we have if we recognized that His hand is on us before the storm even hits? What if we knew for sure that He is near, not only when we call out for Him, but even before we do?

By the time we hear the boom of thunder, He has already has His loving hands on us.

The LORD is near to all who call on Him,

to all who call on Him in truth.

Psalm 145:18