Monday, March 17, 2008

Power Outage

Tonight our power went out right in the middle of our supper. Yes, we were eating late, really late. (mama hasn't changed to daylight savings yet) It was just starting to get dark outside. The kids have never experienced this before so it was actually pretty fun! (after we calmed Mary and Babycakes down, they were a little scared at first.) I realized we have lots of batteries but have no clue where we have a working flashlight! I DO have candles though. 8 votives and a few big, chunky, solid ones. Our house was smelling pretty good after a few minutes!

We live in a neighborhood that is the highest part of our city, so our view at the top of our stairs is beautiful! We can see almost all of our city from there. We looked out and 1/2 of our city was blacked out.

This opened so many fun questions for the kids! I'd say Ballerina Rosie had the most questions. "Are candles electric?" "I wonder if the lights work upstairs?" "Does the bathroom light work?" "I guess we'll just have to watch a movie tonight instead of reading stories!" "Oh, no what will we do in the morning? How will I see my clothes to get dressed?" With Jedi, it was more about which clocks we'd have to reset and about batteries vs electricity, water and water heater questions. They both had questions about cooking, freezers, refrigeraters and stoves.

After about half an hour the power came back on, I admit I was a little disappointed. It was kind of exciting and fun to see and hear their questions. I felt like a child again. We talked about how things would be different if there were no power. Everything from washing clothes to the food we would eat, like milk straight from the cow and no ice or ice cubes. No tv's, radios, computers. I was proud of Jedi when he said "We really don't NEED those things anyway." so matter of factly. Our bedtime prayers were full of thanksgiving for living in our times, in our modern world.

During this short time, different things went through MY head. I couldn't help but think about it being Palm Sunday. Such an important day. Such an important week. "The Week That Changed Everything!" I thought about God and our world. I thought about all the visionaries and warnings. I thought about Fatima and Medjugorje. I thought about how in an instant our world as we know it, could change. It could stop. I even caught myself looking out the window a second time to see if the other half of the city was still on.

Am I ready for something like that to happen? Is my soul where I want it to be? God gives me a choice, to choose Him, or the world. Every day.

I choose You, Lord, I choose You. But I still need help doing this. I am weak. Lord make me strong. Help me to be always ready. Lord, help me. Lord, make me a saint.

6 comments:

  1. This is an awesome, amazing post! And that surprise ending took me...well, by surprise. Are we ready?

    What a beautiful place you have made this blog, Jamie--and in such a short time! Welcome again and thank you. I am always a better person for having come here.

    ReplyDelete
  2. When our lights went out a few weeks ago - it hit me like it did you - am I ready- what if our modern world as we knew it stopped. Or am I ready to meet our Lord? I don't think I ever will be but I do think about it a lot. I told Jesus in my prayers I will just sit and probably cry for 1,000 years because of sorrow of sin and just of joy! I agree with Margaret - great post- you are a natural blogger!

    I read in the paper today that a squirrel caused some poweroutage yesterday - wonder if it was you guys?

    ReplyDelete
  3. Jamie, you and I are truly sisters! Or soul mates. I was out running errands today and the weather was wonderful. It was spring-time exhilerating and the thought came to me not only to be thankful for the day, but what if the Lord came back today! I looked at the sky & tried to imagine that. I also thought your thoughts- am I ready? No, I'm not. But I never quit trying. Blessings to you.

    ReplyDelete
  4. What a beautiful post, Jamie. Thank you for sharing and contributing to make this a true Holy week.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Jamie, welcome to the Catholic blogosphere! I love your title and banner photo (my daughter has that same dress "Mary" is wearing!) Your reason for starting a blog is a very good one, I think. This new way to keep a record of family milestones and events is a beautiful avenue for the blogger and her readers. And easier than scrapbooking! :)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Oh, Jamie, what a lovely, lovely post! I felt like I was there with you, hearing the kids comments (and imagining them as so much younger!). What a lovely way to turn what could have been a negative into a great family night and learning experience. I'm so glad you're my friend!

    ReplyDelete

Thank you so much for stopping and commenting!