Batten Down The Hatches

I have heard the expression throughout my life from time to time.
Batten down the hatches.
I knew what it meant in theory.
I never knew what it meant literally.

I said that to myself when a thunderstorm was approaching.
I get weather alerts on my phone.
I get too many weather alerts at times.
One will suffice; however, quite a few alerts kept coming in a text.

I appreciate the warning.
Sometime the frequency of the alerts just adds to the fear.
Too many warnings, too close together, seem to blend after a while.
I received four alerts in a ten minute span.

Sometimes the alert is simply a storm watch.
This time the alert was a storm warning.
I knew the storm was coming.
I have all the areas where my children live in my weather app on my phone.

My daughter, who is in college for a few more days, is west of me.
She usually gets the storm first.
The storms move west to east, my husband always says.
Whether that is always true, it seems to be true in this case.

It is a little disconcerting to see the lightning flash across my phone screen.
The weather app will have raindrops, or snowflakes, which can be quite lovely.
Lightning bolts across my screen only adds to the unease.
It causes me to pray for my children and for us here at home.

Growing up, I was afraid of thunderstorms.
I am still not a fan.
I learned to squelch that fear for the sake of my children.
A scared mother does not help calm the fears of her children.

I saw the sky get dark as the alerts were coming to my phone.
I went outside to make sure there were no packages by the garage door.
I took down our American flag and the decorative flag I have hanging as well.
The trees were bowing as if inviting me to dance.

Not now, I thought.
I have to batten down the hatches.
This would be the day.
I looked up what the expression meant.

‘Hatch’ is one of those words with dozens of meanings in the dictionary. In this case we are looking at the ‘opening in the deck of a ship’ meaning. Ships’ hatches, more formally called hatchways, were commonplace on sailing ships and were normally either open or covered with a wooden grating to allow for ventilation of the lower decks. When bad weather was imminent, the hatches were covered with tarpaulin and the covering was edged with wooden strips, known as battens, to prevent it from blowing off. Not surprisingly, sailors called this ‘battening down’. (https://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/batten-down-the-hatches.html)

It is an expression about readiness.
It is an expression about preparedness.
It is an expression about security measures.
It is an expressions of precaution.

I closed the garage and came inside.
The outside lights along the front walkway came on since it was getting dark.
It was getting dark unusually early.
The alerts on my phone kept coming.

I began to pray.
I was praying for my husband who was on his way home.
I was praying for each of my children as some were driving home from work.
I was praying for me in the house with the trees still bowing, inviting me to dance.

That is what used to make me so afraid as a little girl.
The trees.
I was always afraid the trees would fall in a storm and hit our house.
I remember the day I verbalized that fear.

Oh, that will never happen, my mother said.
Trees always fall away from the house, she said in no uncertain terms.
Those words comforted me.
I believed them because she said them.

As I grew up, I knew that they were just words of comfort with no validity to them at all.
I still appreciated them.
I still think of that memory with such tenderness.
It was like the ending of a wonderful fairy tale: trees always fall away from the house.

Don’t you ever wish that on days that are hard you could hear words of comfort?
Don’t you wish that the truth would be that simple: and they lived happily ever after.
The cynic would say: stop dreaming and get your head out of the clouds.
A child of God would say: Do not be afraid.

I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world. (John 16:33)

Words of comfort.
Unlike my mother’s words that were simply to assuage my fear, Jesus’ words are true.
We are overcomers not because of anything we have done.
We are overcomers because of everything Jesus has done.

Over and over in God’s Word, we read: Do not be afraid.
When Jesus walked on the water, we read, It is I. Do not fear.
However, literally, Jesus said: I AM. No fear.
I AM. No fear.

No greater words of comfort have ever been spoken.
The One who is, who was, and who is to come is the great, I AM.
When the great, I AM says, No fear, we must listen.
We must take those words to heart from the One who is our peace. (Ephesians 2:14)

I found myself repeating the words Jesus spoke.
I AM. No fear.
The trees still bowed, but I was not afraid.
I battened down the hatches but I was not alone.

Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. (Deuteronomy 31:6)

Words of comfort that are true.