It's a Little Chilly!

When a snow storm hits and the power goes out – the first hour or two is quite fun. It’s an adventure, fireplace, candles, snacks, a good book…

Not so much after 30+ hours. As you can see, the beautiful 22 inches of snow and ice hitting the area has left everything with a gorgeous diamond sparkle. However, downed trees and power lines are everywhere succumbing to the heavy burden of wet snow and ice.

The fridge and freezer contents were moved outside, but now the sun is up and it’s a balmy 45 degrees… and well we have a lot of previously frozen food to eat in the next few days… might be easier if there was electricity.

It’s fascinating how quickly the adventure turned to a struggle. No power, no heat, not cable, no wi-fi, no microwave, no lights, no stove, no warm water, no school, …  well that was a moment of joy until the realization hit that there was also no YouTube and no Netflix. OH MY!

For a family with a lot of medical issues and needing things a certain way to maintain health and sanity, it starts to feel like quite the hardship. It’s hard being chilly. It’s hard not being able to keep a child with autism regulated without electricity and electronics. It’s hard feeding a family with a lot of food allergies but not being able to cook. Yep, it’s very uncomfortable. What a hardship!

But is it really? When you start to look at it – losing food is a struggle. Yep, that’s not good. But all the other losses are about comfort, convenience, and pleasure. Our lives are really blessed. We are fortunate, even, just because of where we were born.

When I am in orphanages in Africa or Haiti, it’s really uncomfortable the first few days. But I go prepared for that and know what I am returning to. I remember coming home after the first trip with an even greater awareness of what we have and how profound it was to see, hear, and touch comfort, conveniences, and pleasures everywhere… not to mention necessities like clean water and medical care. What a privilege to live where I do.

But now, here we are stuck without electricity, warm water, wi-fi, and cable…  After some groaning and whining, from all of us in the family, we began to use the one phone, still with some battery, to turn our perspective elsewhere.

Because we know how much we have, each end of year we share some of that with others who are less fortunate. It’s a joy to give. But, it also greatly blesses us because it helps our own awareness and mindset. Even though we are sitting bundled in a cold house and concerned about some food, as we are looking at families around the world hoping for clean water, hoping for medicine, hoping for a goat or chicken… well, things start to fall into perspective.

It’s a good thing, every once in a while, to step back from the privilege and blessing and gain that perspective. Even though this moment isn’t the most comfortable, in reality, we are reminded how privileged we are. We can drive a little ways away to stay with family or in a hotel if this doesn’t end soon. Even if we lose some food, we have easy access to get more. Despite no cable or wi-fi, we still have the internet on a cell phone.

The faces we are seeing as we look at these charities and the lives we are choosing to share with this year do not have access to these things. So yep, we bought a heard of cows, helped with clean water, provided for some orphans, and we are finding little ways to share our blessings.

As you approach this holiday season, help your family think about giving. Go without something for a little while to remember how blessed you are. Give money or time or resources to help someone else. Just the fact that you are here reading this, is a reminder you have something you can share!

Help your family learn about the blessings in their lives, and help them understand that privilege wasn’t meant to be hoarded but shared. “To whom much is given, much is required.” Luke 12:48