Of Spring Storms & Souls

Storm 4-10-19

One reality those of us who live next to the Rocky Mountains have to deal with is the ever changing weather, especially in the spring.  It was in the 70s the last couple days and the sun was shining, but today we are due to get another blizzard.  Yes, we have snow storms in April and even May and I have even seen snow hit in June.  June is rare, but it happens.  The cloud cover is so thick today we can’t even see the mountains.  They are saying this could be another “bomb cyclone” blizzard where we get an intense pressure drop with high winds.  We had category two hurricane winds in the last one.  This is normal life in the high desert Rocky Mountain region of the United States and we take measures to prepare for every storm our beautiful state throws at us.

In early spring we get blizzards, then come the lightning storms with hail, then the tornado warnings.  On August 24, 2008 (back when the DNC was here), I actually filmed a tornado that was just a couple miles west of our home.  I called Fox 31 News Denver and Jon Bowman (a well known reporter to Coloradoans) came out to our house and his camera guy downloaded my footage.  Jon did a live interview with me for the news that night.  That was cool.  The news people sent me a video of my interview too.  That’s the only time I’ve ever been on TV.  I don’t ever want to be in a tornado, but they are fascinating to watch as long as nobody gets hurt and nothing is damaged.  The one I filmed was in an open field and disappeared quickly.  A few homes had minor damage, but nobody was hurt.

The video is old and it’s on a DVD, so I took a video of it playing on my computer and uploaded that to the blog.  I had just turned 30 that summer of 2008 and I had not been diagnosed with Celiac disease yet.  I hope the video plays right for you all, enjoy!

 

 

Storm 4-10-19 (2)
That is looking southwest towards Pike’s Peak and the front range, but we can’t see past the ridge today.  The tornado I filmed was just west a couple miles behind the house on the far right.  It could be seen by the whole town as it extended up into the sky.  Praise God nobody was hurt!

In case you missed the rooftop picture, here is what that same view looks like on a clear day:

IMG_5648
Pike’s Peak close up taken from my rooftop.

We get a lot of sunny days here and most of the time we have bright blue skies, but the storms of the Rockies are no joke and we have to be prepared at any moment for the weather to change.  Believe me, you don’t want to get caught in a mountain valley or peak in a pouring thunder storm with lightning–you better get out of there quick!  After my friends and I climbed Long’s Peak (14,259 feet) in 1998, we got caught in a lightning storm in the Boulder Field at 12,670 feet on the way back down and it was like having canons going off all around us!  The bolts of lightning were crashing all over the place and we could hear rocks exploding!  We ran for our lives all the way back to timberline (because Long’s is above timberline in the alpine tundra).  You don’t want to be caught in a Colorado hail storm or tornado either or be hiking the high country when the temperature drops suddenly and you are not prepared.  Many people die in our state due to poor planning and a lack of knowledge.

“…my people are destroyed from lack of knowledge…”

Hosea 4:6

Long's Peak Keyhole
The Boulder Field and Keyhole of Long’s Peak.  That little castle building is for protection from deadly lightning storms.

Life is just like that.  Everything is going fine and sometimes you almost touch what could be described as a perfect day, then out of nowhere you are surrounded by dark clouds of trouble.  This is the way it is for all of us no matter where we live on earth, but we do not have to be defeated by the storms!  God has given us the knowledge to be victorious and overcome this sinful world!

What is this knowledge?  It is the knowledge that God loves us and He became flesh to die for us and save our souls!  There is no higher knowledge than that of God’s saving grace!

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

Jesus speaking in John 3:16

We must be prepared for the storms of life and we must ultimately prepare for that most certain of final storms called death.  I have lived in Colorado for most of my life and based off that knowledge I prepare myself and my family for the storms.  So it is with my soul and the souls of my family.  God has given us everything we need for our souls in His Word, the Bible.  It is through that life giving knowledge that we are not destroyed, but we have to individually choose to believe in Jesus in order to overcome this world and be saved.

“Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves the father loves his child as well.  This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands.  This is love for God: to obey his commands.  And his commands are not burdensome, for everyone born of God overcomes the world.  This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith.  Who is it that overcomes the world?  Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.”

1 John 5:1-5

Going further into this knowledge about Jesus:

“This is the one who came by water and blood–Jesus Christ.  He did not come by water only, but by water and blood.  And it is the Spirit who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth.  For there are three that testify: the Spirit, the water and the blood; and the three are in agreement.  We accept man’s testimony, but God’s testimony is greater because it is the testimony of God, which he has given about his Son.  Anyone who believes in the Son of God has this testimony in his heart.  Anyone who does not believe God has made him out to be a liar, because he has not believed the testimony God has given about his Son.  And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.  He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.”

1 John 5:6-12

That knowledge is powerful and can save your soul from being destroyed!  If you want to visit Colorado, my advice would be to not come in the spring due to the crazy storms.  If you do come in the spring, stay out of the rivers that are too high and fast from the high country’s winter run off.  People are hurt and killed trying to go tubing in them every spring.  I would also advise that when visiting in the summer be sure to get off the mountain peaks before the afternoon thunder and lightning storms hit.  If you want advice on how to overcome this world and save your soul, I would advise you to run to Jesus and put your faith in Him!  He is the only One who ever died to forgive your sins and give you eternal life!

“For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”

Jesus speaking in John 3:17

Jesus will give you victory over the storms of this life, you will overcome the world through Him, and He will save your soul!  Just some straight forward advice from a mountain man who loves the Lord.

Grace and peace to you all!

 

 

 

 

 

Author: Ryan Callahan

Hello, and welcome to my site! I am an independent Christian author (One Man's Very Strange Supernatural Life), blogger, and evangelist for Jesus. My main goal with this blog is to help people come to know Jesus, help people understand the Bible, and to minister to a lost and hurting world. This site is about hope, new beginnings, grace, mercy, forgiveness, and love! I'm glad you are here, God bless you! Copyright © 2024 Ryan Callahan. All rights reserved.

47 thoughts on “Of Spring Storms & Souls”

  1. Hi John. I like the correlation you made between the storms of nature and those of our personal lives. As an aside, though I live in Orlando now, I used to live in New Mexico (yes, in the overlooked Mountain Time Zone). Anyway, my wife at the time was on a finals list of a teaching job in Colorado Springs. As beautiful as it was, I was hoping against her getting the job … I knew I’d never be able to endure the weather. Florida has worked out weather-wise for me, but I also know we can’t compare to the immense and glorious beauty of Colorado! Blessings, my friend.

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    1. No, not yet. Just kind of a light drizzle rain with a thick fog coming through right now, and yes, getting colder. Just got word that Douglas County government offices are closing at 2 p.m. Of course the schools will still be going until 3:30. I just emailed my wife and asked if I should pick up the kids early. I really hope we don’t get a foot of snow again. 🙂 Stay safe and warm. God bless!

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  3. Wow! What a lovely post Sir, it’s really awesome, storms of life are more dangerous than the storms of the nature so to survive the deadly storms we have to have a good relationship with the saviour who can always save us. Thanks for writing and for the lovely photographs.

    On Apr 10, 2019 10:01 PM, “Ryan Callahan’s Blog” wrote:

    > Author Ryan Callahan posted: ” One reality those of us who live next to > the Rocky Mountains have to deal with is the ever changing weather, > especially in the spring. It was in the 70s the last couple days and the > sun was shining, but today we are due to get another blizzard. Yes, w” >

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      1. Ryan, I have used my camera video to copy a DVD that I played on my computer and then saved it from my camera memory card. Does that idea help?

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    1. I took a video with my phone and put it on my PC, but I can’t upload it to my blog for some reason. I’ll have to talk with WordPress support at some point. I can just pause the video and take pictures and post those instead. I will update it soon.

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  8. Pingback: Update To My Post Today – Ryan Callahan's Blog

  11. I may have mentioned this before…I was blessed when I was 18 to be able to take a trip through Colorado with my sister and brother-in-law. He was a truckdriver back then ..I thought it was so beautiful and at the time said that I wanted to live there some day! Of course I was just dreaming! Now, I don’t know if I could handle the kind of weather y’all go through!

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  15. Wow, that’s amazing footage. I’m glad everyone was okay. My husband and I drove through Colorado many years ago into Kansas and straight into a tornado. We didn’t know what was happening at the time, as the sky was dark and all we could see was what appeared to be huge billows of smoke on the ground around us. We thought it was odd that we couldn’t smell the smoke. Finally we couldn’t see anymore to drive and pulled off at a rest stop to sleep, since it was late. Imagine our surprise when we woke up the next day surrounded by many, many, many vehicles parked haphazardly all around us and found out that we had been right in the heart of a huge tornado. Talk about God’s protection!

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  16. Ryan, thanks for sharing your story, rich words, and video. I was watching the morning news this morning, and a tornado touched down in northeast Ohio at Shelby. Thank goodness there were no fatalities, but the storm injured a handful of people with some significant property damage.

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