A little bit of light

So a while ago my husband and I were watching the Winter Olympics (yeah, a while ago) and suddenly GRROAAAN...POP! The power goes out. It was instantly dark, and my silly brain starts reminding me of every scary movie I've seen and I begin imagining all the worst-case scenarios. (ridiculous, I know) Luckily, I have a wonderfully level-headed husband who kept my thinking rational.

We went outside to see if we could figure out what the groan/pop noise was and to see if other people on our street had power. We also racked our minds as to where/if we had flashlights. We found one small and very dim flashlight and our vanilla cinnamon candle. (Yay for being prepared...haha) It's a good thing we live with my grandparents or those would have been our only light sources. We couldn't remember where they kept their flashlights, but we did find more candles. 

Not very bright, but even a little light makes a difference.

We live in a more elderly neighborhood, and my husband felt he needed to go around to make sure everyone was okay. He helped one neighbor turn off a fire alarm that was going off (don't worry, no fire), and we found out that the power outage was due to one of the transformers at the nearby power plant going out. Our neighbors said we were supposed to get power back in a few hours.

While my husband was gone, I took sometime to write in my journal and reflect on this experience. I realized how utterly unprepared we were. A dim flashlight and a scented candle...yikes...

I thought I'd share a few of my thoughts from my journal.

"It's weird that when I turn the lights out myself it doesn't matter, but when and outside force does so, I instantly felt scared and not in full control...this is a blessing in a way because it's teaching me to not fear even in dark times."

"Even though it's small, the candle whose light I'm using overpowers the darkness, and my eyes are making the other necessary adjustments, so I can see. Even when times seem dark, if there's a little light we need to hold onto it and make adjustments in our perspective to let more light in."

"I don't need to fear or feel out of control because the Lord is in control, not in a way that restricts my choices, but in a way that assures us we will be blessed if we faithfully keep our covenants and rely on Him. He is that light we can hold to when it's dark."

"I'll be more grateful for electricity when it's back. And I know that after my trials I'll have a greater understanding of God's love for me and I'll be a better person."

I enjoyed having the time to think and ponder. It didn't take too long, but I was able to learn a lot. I think God was trying to tell me to slow down, turn off distractions and listen to Him. I definitely want to be more prepared for emergency situations, but I also want to be more prepared to listen to God when He wants to talk to me. It's funny, but as I wrote in my journal...

"Sometimes it takes something as dramatic as a power outage to get a lightbulb to come on. :)"