Night of Blessings

Life is full of blessings in the most unexpected ways.  The blessing could be running into an old friend at the grocery store, listening to a song sung by your favorite artist, a message in a fortune cookie, and so forth.  Could there possibly be a blessing in having no electricity?  Thomas Edison please help us! 

“Somebody, please turn the lights on,” ordered Chris as he stepped into the front door.    

“They are not working,” replied Hannah.

 “Do the neighbors have electricity?” asked Steve. 

“I don’t think so,” I said.

I walked out the front door and down the white chat driveway to get a better look at the neighbor’s home.  As I neared the woods between our homes, I notice how dark and forbidding they were.  My imagination kicked in.  “What is there is a wild animal ready to pounce on me?  What if something is behind me?” said the voices.  “Enough!  I am not scared,” I said to control my thought process.  I calmly turned around to walk back to our home. 

By the time I reached the front door I heard Steve on the phone with the utility company.  There was a substation outage.  We would be without electricity for a time.  It reminded me of the ice storm of January 2007, when we were without power for 12 days, only this time it the middle of the summer, July 2013,

Steve, Chris, and Hannah each found flashlights and candles.  I began digging in my purse for my cell phone thinking that I am so glad it has a full charge.  Chris and Hannah were restlessly wandering through the house with their flashlights and Steve was feeding our five cats and a dog.

 “Please don’t shine the light in my eyes.  It is giving me a headache.” I pleaded. 

“Oh, sorry, Mom” they both said.  Accidentally one of my lovely children shined the light in my eyes again.  What was Steve doing outside anyway?  I decided to check on him.

Steve was sitting on the back porch with Nanook, our American Eskimo dog, sitting faithfully by his side.  Two black cats meowed as if to say,

“Please, stroke my back!”  I petted one, “Sam, is this you?”  I asked because it was difficult to detect in the dark.  I found a chair.

 “It is a beautiful night!” I said looking around. 

Suddenly, it seemed like the light turned on, but as I looked inside the huge bay window I saw that the light had not come on yet.

 “Is that the moonlight?  It is so bright!  Just look at it streaming through the trees.  It’s beautiful.” I exclaimed. 

“Yes, it will be a full moon in five days!” informed my detail oriented husband!

Steve and I reminisced about past family fun times until it felt like the mosquitoes and chiggers were getting the best of me.  This time, when I entered the family room, Chris and Hannah had finally settled down to playing a card game of Rummy with happy music playing on the cd player.  Thank God for batteries.  Steve joined me on the couch, as we watched the card game.  We, all of us, reminisced some more laughing quietly. 

Suddenly, the light in the entryway popped on.  “Oh, that scared me!” exclaimed Hannah.  “Oh, I didn’t want this to end!  It was fun playing cards by candle light and listening to music.”  “It doesn’t have to end!” said Chris.  The two continued to play for a few more minutes to finish out the game.

I just have to say that it has been a great day filled with love and laughter.  The only thing that could have made it better was for Stephanie and Jeff to be here with us.  We have had many cherished moments with them as well.  How many times I have taken times like this for granted?  How many times have I not appreciated the laughter just not thinking?  God created laughter and joy.  He gives us life and special moments with loved ones.  I now treasure them more than ever