Waking up at midnight to 70 m.p.h wind gusts,  thunderstorms,  ‘Memorial Day’ weekend, was unexpected! 

Losing power for 24hrs was unfortunate but some of our communities in Memphis area were drastically hit.

I was not ready. 

How could I be ready for the ‘unexpected‘?

Where were the candles and matches when needed? How could I brew coffee in the morning for breakfast? How could I wash long, curly hair with cold water? How could I wash the dirty laundry without electricity? The alarm system ‘back-up’ battery would not even last a day… 

No electricity, coffee, hot water or working alarm system were just a few of my concerns.

Was it an inconvenience? It sure was!

I heard the neighbors and the customer service representative say, ‘it may take a week for electricity to be restored’.

I heard the Lord say, “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” ‭‭Matthew‬ ‭6:34‬ ‭NIV‬‬

I was in disbelief at first then I felt quite vulnerable. I soon realized God was in control. 

He always is.

I reminded myself to just take one minute at a time and not anticipate the worst in upcoming weeks.

As I quickly adjusted my morning routine and ‘attitude’, I vividly remembered the impact of Hurricane Andrew in South Florida in Spring of 1992. Neighborhoods were destroyed by winds over 165 mph, category 5 hurricane, and total property damage was over $26.5 billion… my family and I were blessed for not losing our homes then.

Praising Jesus as I’m writing these words today. 

We just lost electricity for 24 hours, experienced minor inconveniences, some distress and nothing else.

Yes! we were able to lock up our front door of the house, drank complimentary coffee in Church, heard 5 valuable nuggets from the book of Acts:13, worshipped Jesus, and enjoyed a hot meal after Church service.

What else could I ask for?

Having no electricity made us think about life creatively! 

Dad would always say in his native language, “when there is a need, there is a way.’

My husband asked me to play UNO and Jumbling tower with candlelights at night, helped each other NOT to cheat, laughed quite often, rested from TV watching and internet browsing, and listened to the birds sing outdoors.

We were blessed indeed!