Back To The Basics

Talk about a refresher course in gratitude. We had a terrible storm that went through on Friday afternoon, with extremely high winds. It knocked down several of those big high tension power lines on the road I live on, and when those went down, it pulled down about a mile and a 1/2 of high voltage powerlines. The power company said it could be days before power would be restored. My youngest daughter was graduating on that Sunday, and a big party was planned. All those plans were now in question--it was, of course, a tremendous disappointment for her.  

We had no power. No water. No heat and air.  No WIFI.  No TV. Getting in and out was challenging because of the downed lines and power trucks.  But . . .

• 
  Those power poles could have fallen on our house.  They didn't.
• The family was safe.
• The weather was beautiful after that storm passed.  We didn't need heat or air.
• We had 15 power trucks and about 50 guys working around the clock to fix it. 
• Our friends and family checked in on us and made sure we had everything we needed.  Even offered us a place to shower and stay if we needed it.
• And at about 4 AM on Sunday morning, the power came back on, and all those guys and all those trucks had vanished by the time we woke up.  Like it never even happened!
• We were able to have our graduation party after all!

We take so much in our life for granted. As inconvenient as it was, it was kind of refreshing to get away from some of those distractions of our modern world.  It was good to have a chance to reflect on just how fortunate we are.

Even in a crisis, look for the blessings. Look for the things you can be grateful for.  You'll always find them if you look for them.

~Pastor Todd Creason