No Electricity! By Lane Jordan Burday
My husband and I had just driven the four-and-a-half hours for our monthly visit with our precious grandson, who is two. Our son-in-law cooked a great dinner, and after the baby was in bed, we relaxed in the family room talking and catching up.
Then my daughter informed us that they received a message from their HOA that the electricity would be cut off the next day for 6-7 hours.
What?
For those of you who do not live in Texas, the July and August heat is rough. How would we endure with no air conditioning? How would we prepare food for the baby? For us?
Sure enough, the next morning I woke up a little warm, and as I walked to the kitchen, my husband reminded me, “No electricity!”
Oh, that’s okay, I thought. The sun was shining, and I didn’t need the lights. And then I tried to make my coffee. And then we put toast in the toaster. And then we tried to make scrambled eggs! We couldn’t even open the washing machine door!
And that’s when I realized that everything we do requires electricity!
Fortunately, my daughter has a gas stove. Oh good, I thought as I turned the knob. But nothing happened! She was smart because she put a lighter to the gas, and we had heat to cook with. I put a pan of water on the stove for my coffee. We buttered the toast, put it in a frying pan, and also made the scrambled eggs.
And then I looked at everyone and said, “How on earth did people survive in the olden days?”
It made me think of all the ways I need to be grateful for everything God has given me in my life. And if it goes away, we still “give thanks for all things!”
Sure enough, we didn’t have electricity until 4:00 that afternoon. And you know what? The main level of the house stayed comfortable! I was so surprised. The upstairs was hot but not unbearable, and the downstairs wasn’t too bad. “Thank you, God, for seeing us through this ‘emergency’”!
Of course, it really wasn’t a real emergency, but in our “first world” life, anything that goes wrong makes us think that it is.
It made me realize that we need to wake up, walk through our day, and then when we lie down to sleep, to never stop praising God and thanking Him for all He has given us: clean water, food easily attainable, clothes to wear, a roof over our heads, heat and AC to keep us safe and comfortable, good jobs, etc.
Giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Eph. 5:20).
This scenario also made me realize that there are so many people in the world without any of the blessings that we enjoy in the United States. We need to give more of our resources to others, and we need to pray more for those in great need.
Let’s never forget the goodness of God and His love for us and share it with others!
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