The Wind On My Face

I've always been fascinated by the wind.  As a child, like most children, I tried to catch the wind, but without any success.  I'm pretty sure that I asked the usual questions about why we can't see the wind and why does it blow around on the earth.  I had a second-hand kite that I loved to fly, with a little help of course.  Watching it dance in the wind, homemade tail flying behind it was such a thrill for a little girl. 

As an adult, I still love to feel a gentle breeze and hear the peal of the soft wind chimes that hang outside my back door.  I do not care for a gale-blowing freezing cold blast of the winter season!  Just a soft easy breeze for me.  Where I live during the summer months there is a breeze that comes up off the Gulf of Mexico every evening, so pleasant after a hot day.  I often take this breeze for granted, until my sister comes from the great city to the east where the humidity and mosquitos reign in the evening and she will remind me of the joy of the evening breeze we have to enjoy.

In addition to enjoying the feel of the breeze I enjoy watching the trees and shrubs blow in the wind.  The branches of my large oak trees are barely disturbed by a soft breeze, but the leaves will fall gently to the earth if the breeze is strong enough.  The nandina bushes around the deck almost dance as the breeze ruffles their feathery leaves. The branches of the mimosa tree seem to catch the wind and sway back and forth, almost as if they are playing in it.  What a delight!

I find the wind to be very comforting, too.  There have been several times in my life when I have been troubled or disturbed and felt the breeze on my face and realized it was the hand of God.  I felt the wind touch my face and then the inner voice saying, "Be still, child.  I'm with you. I'm taking care of you.  It will be okay."  God is in the wind, remember the wind that blew the Red Sea back and dried the land for the Israelites to cross?  Remember that Jesus' disciples marveled after He rebuked the wind on the Sea of Galilee? And, what about the sound of a mighty wind that brought the Holy Spirit at Pentecost? 

The next time you feel the wind on your face take a moment to enjoy it.  Look around and see the invisible wind moving the trees and shrubs.  Take a deep breath and be thankful for the wind and the air that we breath.  The wind - one of life's simple things.