Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Lights Out!

Snow is a rarity in our neck of the woods, but when it does snow, what a special event it is! Days before the snow arrives, local meteorologists get in a tizzy with predictions and possibilities of what may or may not happen.
As soon as the 's' word is dropped, folks around here go into a flurry of activity(pun totally intended)- a trip to the grocery store, stocking up on firewood, making preparations for using the grill as an all-purpose stove should power go out.

Those of us here UTRTR are no exception. In fact, my parents watch the weather dilligently and give us reports, urging us to watch the news and get prepared. When they came for a visit the other day before the storm, they were worried we weren't prepared enough and brought more provisions. (Thanks, Momma and Pop!) If it weren't for them, we probably wouldn't have given the snow predictions much thought.

When we awoke on Monday morning, the world around us was breathtaking- in beauty and in temperature! A few trips out to play in the snow, hot chocolate, hearty meals punctuated our day. I cooked all day 'just in case' we lost power. My husband urged me to stop saying that, but I kept saying, "Better safe than sorry. We can heat this up by the fire or on the grill."

Then it happened at 7:48 PM, our power went out. The first few moments, I admit were tense. When it was just the two of us, we made do. Now that there are young ones, we worried about them getting cold and how long the power outage would last.

Okay, so probably more than the first few moments were tense. Our son danced around the living room, excited for the chance to camp out in the living room, complete with roaring fire. Meanwhile, my husband and I were scooping up flashlights, candles, blankets, pillows, and a weather radio and moving furniture to accommodate all of us in the living room for however long.

While my husband added wood to the fire, I turned on the weather radio. God knows exactly what we need, exactly when we need it. The song playing said something about, "....Everyday's the 4th of July!" We could not have been experiencing anything more opposite than the 4th of July, and we enjoyed a good laugh.

After a moment, I scanned the dial and found our favorite station, a channel that plays Christian music. Something only described as peace came over all of us immediately.

On a cold, dark, snow-turned-ice night, in the warm glow of a fireplace, in the midst of worry, we felt the presence of God. The worry was gone and peace had taken its place.

This is the life! I thought as I spread blankets out.  We are all together. Our bellies our full. We have blankets and fire for warmth. We have a song on the radio reminding us that 'Our God is greater! Our God is stronger!' How blessed we are!

And in that moment I resolved- more evenings like this- lights out!

Because it was when the lights were out, the distractions of the tv and computer were gone, that we were able to focus on what mattered- the presence of God and the reassurance of having each other to make it through the dark and the cold.

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