At some point while watching television we have all had a favorite show interrupted with this announcement….. “We interrupt this show for a very important message!” And depending on the message, it possibly wasn’t very “important” to us and not worthy of being interrupted just as we were about to learn who the killer was on our favorite drama show. Severe weather alerts or major breaking news, yes, that’s important. But we just want to see who the killer is and move on to our next favorite show.
Which brings me to the topic of this post…. We interrupt this life for a very important power outage.
Last week we were hearing weather forecasts of a system that was to move through our area that had the potential to bring heavy rains, high winds, downed trees, and possibly even tornadoes. Now I live out in the country and have most of my life. Living out in the country means the possibility that trees can fall on power lines and take out the power. And while this can happen in the city, it seems in the country where less people live, it can sometimes take longer to have power restored. I’ve experienced a few hours of power outage to even a whole week so you can imagine the dread that sets in when you hear such a forecast.
So, we wait and, in the meantime, prepare ourselves in the event the power does go out. Now this storm was supposed to come through in the middle of the night so before I went to bed, I filled my big laundry room sink with water to be used for flushing the toilets. Then I went to bed, praying that God would keep us safe as well as our family and friends.
And if our life wasn’t already being interrupted by the Corona Virus Pandemic
As luck would have it, at 5:30 am Monday the power went out. So, I grabbed my phone and called the automated 1-800-POWER-ON to report the outage. During the call and after establishing our address, before I could even report the outage the happy automated voice said, “Oh, I see you qualify to receive LED lights. Would you like for me to send those?” I was getting a bit agitated at this point (well actually, a lot agitated) because, well, it was 5:30 am and all I wanted to do was report the outage. I even yelled at this automated person, “NO!” (I might need to call back and tell them I want those bulbs and if I could apologize for yelling at the happy automated voice offering those bulbs, I would.) Usually when a call is placed to report an outage, an estimated time of restoration is given. That was not the case this time and my neighbors and I were all wondering when we would have our power restored. Eventually that day we received notification that the power would be restored on Wednesday at approximately 6:00 pm. Over two days!!!
So now we wait during this very important power outage….
I started to think of a couple of other power outages where God revealed his wonder to me. This picture was one of those such times several years ago. The power had gone out in the middle of the night and when I woke up the next morning, I couldn’t carry on with my normal routine of having my coffee while catching up on social media with the news playing on the television in the background. (No power means no internet connection and in this case, no data on my phone to enjoy my social media catch up) I happened to look out the window (I’m sure God prompted me to do this) to see the most beautiful sunrise ever, and while I’ve seen some very beautiful sunrises, this one was probably the most spectacular! I would have missed God’s masterpiece had I been carrying on as usual.
Or the time my husband and I came home to a very dark house after a power outage and I looked up in the sky to see the beautiful stars. When you live out in the country and have no power, and the outdoor lights that would normally be on are out, it is a can’t see your hands in front of your face kind of dark. I would not have looked up to the sky had the power been on because we would have pulled the car into the garage (no power means the garage door doesn’t work) and gone into the house. But without the distraction of the usually brightly burning man-made lights, I didn’t miss the beautiful stars shining brightly to remind me of the handiwork of a wonderful God. A God who is with me during the interruptions of life and cares about me.
“When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?” Psalm 8:3-4 ESV
So now here I am writing this post about the outage. It’s 10:00 am on Wednesday, several hours before the estimated time of restoration. BUT…. Our power came back yesterday at 5:18 pm!!! Instead of having no power for 60 hours per the power company’s estimate, we were out of power only 36 hours. And honestly, 36 hours was way past my threshold of a little interruption in life.
Finding the blessing in it all
Like the blessing of seeing a beautiful sunrise or brightly shining stars from past power outages, this outage brought its own wonderful blessings.
Family and friends with power offering the use of their shower or checking on us
Neighborhood friends in the same interruption checking on one another
The weather wasn’t cold or hot, so we were comfortable
The opportunity to just stop and unwind with a good book or take a walk
We didn’t lose anything on our property by a fallen tree
A break from Corona Virus Pandemic news
The power came back on a day before the estimate
I learned I can get free LED light bulbs
Sometimes life has interruptions. And in those interruptions, we can find a blessing, if we look for it. Now off to catch up on laundry. Another blessing….. I have clothes and a washer and dryer connected to power!!
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