Really, though, I don't even notice the heat much anymore. I have lived in Texas all my life and am accustomed to some seriously hot summers (even as they get hotter, apparently from global warming, a theory of which I'm not convinced). My being accustomed to our extreme heat, however, is saved for moments like yesterday, when my seat belt buckle burned me. It was the plastic part, too, not even the metal part. I touched it for like, 0.002 seconds, and I have a stupid blister on my thumb. THAT, I notice.
(boo you, rising mercury) I've gotten used to the heat in my personal life too. In fact, over the same period of time that it has been 100+ every day, it seems like one thing after another for me, and it's been constant enough that I've accepted this heat as the new normality in my life. I only get reminded of how unbearable it really is when something unexpectedly jumps up and burns me, the way my seatbelt did yesterday. At that moment, I am usually guilty of having an irrational reaction, whether it be letting a bad word slip or bursting into tears. Or being violent toward inanimate, usually solid objects that are in fact NOT scared of me (that's never a good road).
It seems that in these moments, when I finally realize how much I need a break from the heat, God sends me peace through a refresher. A rain storm, a note from my husband-to-be, an encourager at the office. It's in those moments that I know that while I can't control what happens to the proverbial temperature, I can control the way I handle it. And furthermore, not being so self absorbed leaves me open to be the refresher that God is sending to other people in the midst of their own firestorms. There's nothing greater than that!
I am still, however, doing secret rain dances in my office chair today. I wish I had one of those rain sticks. That would be a hit among my coworkers for sure.
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