Winter

A blast of winter weather, snow and freezing ice hit Cedar Rapids last night. Our electricity went out around 7:30 PM last evening right as we were gathering in the family room to watch The Prestige DVD. Bummer, we couldn't watch the movie. Then we got the idea of watching it on our laptop. Just one problem, the movie was in the DVD player and we couldn't get it out! Such are the hardships of an American power outage!

There's something exciting about a power outage, as long as it doesn't last too long. We lit the candles and moved to the kitchen table to play a game of Skipbo, certain that the electricity would soon be on. 9:30 PM came and went, still no power. I began to think about the freezer, refrig, sump pump and furnace. I can sleep in the cold but I sure don't want my water line to freeze up. That just happened to my neighbor and it wasn't a pretty sight!

I stayed up to 11:30 reading by flashlight. Still no power. In the mean time Pastor Bob, Gary and myself decided to cancel our Sunday services based on the wintry conditions and forecast. I woke up at 1:30 AM to find the light in our bed room on. I'm not sure what time the power finally returned.

In all, over 170,000 Alliant and MidAmerican customers lost power last night. According to the Gazette, many homes will not have power for at least three days and some may take over a week to have power restored. Yikes! That would not be good. It makes you appreciate all the small blessings that we take for granted on a daily basis.

This morning we enjoyed a leisurely and quite morning at home. It was a surprise, yet welcome gift of solitude and rest. What a wonderful change of pace. And all because of a power outage and storm. Maybe there's a lesson there for me. Perhaps in the midst of the storm, God longs to give me rest if I only slow down long enough to receive it.

Thank you God for the winter season and storms of life that draw us closer to you.