Blessings in Disguise
Two days ago we had an awful storm blow through. It was Saturday night, early Sunday morning. The wind howled and rain poured. My husband and I did not sleep well that night, but drifted off here and there to awake to no power in the house. It was pitch black and about 6:00 am. Our power company usually sends us an outage alert, but not this time. I reported the outage and lay awake thinking about how difficult the day would be without any electricity. We both eventually decided it was time to get up and get going despite the inconvenience. We had purchased a generator after Hurricane Helene left us without power for two weeks in October 2024. We used this to keep our refrigerator running, charge our phones, and make a pot of coffee. We used our grill to prepare food, and sourced water from a nearby creek to be able to flush our toilet. My husband, the hard worker he is, took care of everything to help us get through the day. Of course our children complained at the lack of internet and groaned about how bored they were. But you know what, we ended up having such a great day.
I personally have been enjoying the lack of television and screen time that I committed to for the Lent season. It was nice to not have TV on first thing in the morning, and be able to spend time catching up on my scripture reading and listen to a sermon instead. We went for a walk on some local hiking trails adjacent to a disc golf course where my husband and daughter practiced their throws. We played board games together, and went to a local park where my son and daughter ran and played tag and hide and seek. I used some time in between our activities to look at my week ahead and jot down priorities in my Life Planner, which I rarely take the time to do. It was a great day being present with family.
Our power came back on shortly after 7:30 pm, just in time to take showers and complete chores in preparation for the week ahead. I went to bed thinking about just how blessed we are. We are blessed to have a roof over our heads, food in the refrigerator, clean running water, and yes, electricity. We take so much for granted. Yesterday we were blessed to not have the distractions modern conveniences bring to spend quality time together. I am blessed to have such a wonderful partner in life who takes care of his family. I am blessed with two happy, healthy children who bring so much purpose and joy to my life. God is good.
I share this with you in hopes that you can see the blessings in whatever storm you are weathering, my friends.
Today I pick back up in Leviticus, Chapter 9. I think many may find these readings tedious, repetitive, and difficult to get through. But, I’m trying to focus on the detail. It is amazing to think that God cared so much about being back in a partnership with His creation, that He spent the time with Moses to detail out all the instructions needed to bridge the gap created time after time since our fall in Eden. God wanted to restore the partnership, to restore our purity, to be with His creation again. Why do we turn away from that kind of love?
Thank you for reading,
-A
