Blessed with Less

Not too much report-worthy has happened around here lately. A lot has happened. Every day something significant happens - I'm alive and happy and things are wonderful. I have been given far, far more than I could ever need, but in the ins-and-outs of everyday life, these little big blessings easily get lost in the shuffle. I hate that it takes knock-out events to shake up my perspective but love that God is creative and knows that sometimes I just need to be told that I am being absolutely ridiculous. Check out His latest shenanigans...

Friday was just another day. Actually that's not even true. It was David's last free-Friday because.... he was offered a full-time, salaried position at the CVB. Hooray! He has worked SO HARD for the past year there, and I am super proud of him for proving his potential to them. 

Anyways, the down side to having a big boy job is that now he has to work on Fridays, too. So he enjoyed his last free Friday while I worked and then we headed over to Mema & Granddaddy's house to soak up some evening rays and enjoy the pool. On our way home, the wind began to pick up and we noticed David's dad driving over to warn us that a storm was coming. In an instant, (big!) trees literally started snapping and we ran inside, straight to the basement. Within a few seconds, all the power was out.

Fast forward to today. It's Tuesday night. And the power is still out.

For the most part, things have just been going as planned. In a fun twist of events, though, this has been the hottest weekend of the year, and a lot of people who didn't lose power in Friday night's storm lost it in subsequent storms on Saturday or Sunday. The best part of this whole ordeal has been the reactions of everyone, though.

Yes, it sucks to be without power. No, cold showers aren't fun. And yes, it is impossible to sleep at night when you are so. incredibly. hot. I'll admit that I have been a total grumpster the past few days. Not sleeping and having to shower at the Y are minor annoyances that are still annoying. We are really lucky that David's family is prepared for stuff like this though - we have a generator running so most of our food has stayed intact, and we have major fans running and...most importantly, internet.

While I realize that a lot of people in our area have it much worse than us, this situation has made me realize how much I do have. And if you can read this, you have a lot to be thankful for, too. For us, not having power is the exception, not the rule. I can go without power for a few days a year - most of the world does it every single day. In fact, most of the world goes without pretty much everything I take for granted (and even sometimes complain about).

While a cold shower is annoying, it is still clean water. I can't bake, but I'm hardly without food. I can't do laundry but I have more than enough clothes to last me should the power be out for the next few months. In fact, the conveniences I've had to sacrifice are mostly about choice and comfort, not necessity. But don't think we aren't doing our part to help - we've been forced to eat crab legs and coconut cream pie. You know...just in case the generator stops working :)