Motivational Monday: Unplugged

Today my Motivational Monday is a bit different. It is spurred by the storm we had Friday night. Thewind was relentless with gusts up to 60 mph...perhaps more. The house was shaking, the rain was pounding the windows, the trees were shaking like crazy, and the power was out by 9:00 pm. Darling daughter awoke and after a little snack (special storm treat), I climbed into bed with her, a camping light, and read a couple more stories before lights out.
I didn't really sleep much that night as the bumps kept waking me...and dear hubby's phone. Before midnight, he had to go out into this craziness for work. I kept quiet. I knew any comment of safety etc. would not be well received. We are working on improving communication. I know he didn't want to go and my "be safe" comments would stir up strife. Instead I prayed for his safety. That was the best I could do. Pray. And with him gone I wondered if I was going to be able to get any sleep. I saw the flashing police lights and figured there was trouble down our street. Yes, there was. The road was closed due to fallen trees and power lines. Dear hubby had to go the other way which was littered with downed trees and yes, he helped move some so he could make his way into work. I learned this all later. And he learned later I prayed for his safety.
But I did sleep due to the power of prayer easing my worries about a tree falling on our roof. There are some big ones very close, plus a power pole. I asked for an envelope of protection for my family and drifted off to sleep. Once I awoke I was somewhat surprised we were still without power. I needed a coffee. Yes, I got some sleep but not enough. I needed a coffee and to run. And I was cold. So outside darling daughter and I went to run loops around the house to keep my streak alive. And then we braved the roads. It looked like cars were going up and down but within less than a minute I realized, it was deceiving me. The road was closed and no, I wasn't going the other way into back roads littered with trees. We returned home after our short minute or two adventure and coffee didn't mean as much to me as I had learned Toby's grandma had died in the night. We prayed for his family and then I remembered the grill. The grill I insisted we buy and keep propane in stock just in case. The grill only dear hubby has used.
For the first time ever I lighted our grill, heated up some water and cinnamon rolls, and was thankful for instant coffee a friend left us. Darling daughter and I enjoyed our unplugged day. I lighted the grill again to make quesadillas for lunch plus more coffee, we played outside, we read inside, we cuddled, we talked, and we waited for electricity. It was so quiet we heard new noises. The sounds of work trucks beeping in the distance. We watched them go by and cheered when we saw an electric company vehicle. When we saw poles go by we danced. Everything takes time and from what I was told from the electric company, 22,000 people were without power.
My phone was dying and I didn't know how much longer we would be without power. The electric company told me to make emergency preparations. Yes, I called to touch base as I wanted to have the best update for dear hubby. And I wanted my phone to have life in case of an emergency so I kept everything brief. Then it dawned on me. I could use the charge from my laptop and power up my phone. Thing is, we had to stay on the laptop to keep it awake so it could charge my phone. We looked at old videos of darling daughter and laughed at the memories. It took practically the whole laptop charge to recharge my phone but I was good to go. And when plugged in I talked with my mom some, which I know she liked as much as I did.
Once things started getting dimmer we lit candles, pulled out memory books, and went through darling daughter's life from birth to turning 6. We put a call into dear hubby to bring home ice and dinner. It was raining again. He said okay but didn't get to leave work until after 6:00 pm. Shortly thereafter the power came back on. Darling daughter and I danced and praised God for the blessing of light...even though we still had no cable or internet. That problem still persists and poor dear hubby missed all the football games yesterday.
But ironically, the past two days have been the best ever. We pulled together as a family and had more fun that we have had in a long time. We appreciated the small things even more and yes, instant coffee never tasted so good! We bonded, laughed, and had fun. I told darling daughter it was kinda like pioneer days but then we went on to list a million reasons why we still had it better off than the pioneers.
Daily Gratitude: I am thankful it was a sunny day for the most part when the power was out.
Daily Bible Verse: In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety. ~ Psalm 4:8