The Day The Lights Went Out
Last week ended on an interesting note. On Friday, we had no running water for most of the day due to a well issue. Then on Saturday, we were hit with a horrible storm that knocked our power out in the middle of the day. It stayed out for over 7 hours.
Neither of those things were all that bad, it's just that they happened one right after the other. Needless to say, all of my household duties ended up way behind. It's funny how much we take for granted these days.No water on Friday meant that I could not do laundry or wash dishes. I usually start the dishwasher before I go to bed each night. Unfortunately, I forgot to do that on Thursday night. So not only could I not wash the dishes we dirtied during the day, I also could not wash any of the dirty ones from the day before.
Saturday's power outage put me another day behind on doing laundry. It also meant I could not get on the computer to check email or do any of the other extremely important things I do online every day.
But we survived, and we actually had a fantastic time in the process. As a result, there is a whole list of things I am grateful for today.
- I am grateful for all of the modern conveniences that, when working, keep my life humming along and lessen the amount of actual "work" I need to do.
- I am grateful I make dinner during stolen moments throughout the morning. On Friday, I didn't need running water to prepare anything for dinner since it was already waiting in the fridge for us. All I had to do was reheat everything.
- I am grateful for the time I got to spend curled up on the couch reading books with my children on Saturday.
- I am grateful those kids were excited when the power went off and made the whole day feel like an adventure.
- I am grateful we were able to go out for dinner on Saturday night. And I'm grateful that it proved to be such a neat experience. There was only one restaurant within a 10 mile radius that had power. So you can imagine how packed they were at 6:00 pm on a Saturday night. I am grateful we live in an area that is truly a community and that our children got to see the neighborly actions of others during what could have been an extremely stressful and frustrating time.
- I am grateful our power was restored so quickly. Everything in our refrigerator and freezer was salvageable. Others in our immediate vicinity weren't so lucky. In fact, some people had to wait over 48 hours to have their power turned back on.
- I am grateful the only physical result of the storm was a few shingles flipped up on our roof.
- I am extremely grateful that God can use a small situation to have a major impact on me and remind me of all the things in my life that are truly important.
5 comments:
Kate it is amazing how much we can take for granted. I believe it is God's way of reminding us and making us appreciate all the things in life He has given us. Glad to hear the storm wasn't worse. That in itself is a blessing!
I forget how much I depend on those conveniences and certainly take them for granted. I can see where losing the power and water were a blessing in disguise. I love how you turned the "lemons into lemonade"
As you were writing about being grateful for our modern conveniences I couldn't help but think of helping my Grandma do her laundry when I was a little girl ~ through the ringer washer! I try never to complain about doing laundry when I realize it's one of the easiest jobs since the machines do 90% of the work!
Glad you & your family were able to make the most of your blackout too. Sounds like fun! We were away from home a few years back when the entire NorthEast had a blackout. We had just arrived in NC at my sister's when everywhere from Washington north to Canada (where home is) was in the dark. Everyone talks about what a cool experience it was and I'm sitting there... "in the dark" about what they experienced in the dark!
Thanks for the reminder to be grateful for ALL we have, even those little inconveniences!
Such events are much better when people stop to realize how bad it could be and then decide to make the best of a bad situation.
Elaine H.
It's days like those that make life interesting. At least you have a posstive attitude about it. Because really our attitude is the only thing we have power to change.
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