That Storm
Last year, we had a storm that knocked out the power in my neighborhood. Luckily, we invested in a whole home generator so although I could constantly hear the gas generator run with electricity and ac available, at least we had power! If that was the good news, the bad news is that I sat and also thought about how high our natural gas bill was going to be by the time that the electricity gets restored.
In addition, the storm blew off the chimney caps (I’ve never heard of that happening.) One of those caps hit my vehicle on the way down (so I have both a homeowners claim and an auto claim to deal with), and a neighbors limb fell and bent the brace on my hurricane fence, and we lost half a tree - amidst miscellaneous plant problems). Ironically, I am eerily calm about this.
A year after we moved here, an ice storm knocked out the power and it took the better part of a week to get it restored. Plus, at that time, there was some kind of electrical relay switch in the neighborhood and it was a monthly occurrence to lose power for an hour at a time (they’ve since eliminated that relay switch). I determined to get a generator. My first generator, which I still have, is a gasoline generator that would be limited what could be plugged into it when needed (plus it wasn’t hooked into our electrical supply for the house so it was a hassle to use).
A few years after that, I saw an ad for a whole house generator and we eventually got one. When the generator senses a loss of power for about 5 seconds, it disconnects me from the electrical company power supply and starts the generator. It will continue to run until it senses the electrical company power supply has been restored. We got a large enough one that it will run almost everything turned on at once in the house. My wife thought I was nuts - it was expensive and, by then, the power outages were infrequent.
This continued until, not even 6 months later, she had a professional group over to our house for a weekend summer retreat and the power went out. As the women were getting ready and making breakfast, we had power and ac while the neighbors were walking by trying to figure out how we had power and they did not. That is when my wife decided I was pretty smart getting the whole house generator.
“For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’ Or what king, going out to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace.”- Luke 14:28-32 ESV
“The plans of the diligent lead surely to abundance, but everyone who is hasty comes only to poverty. Precious treasure and oil are in a wise man’s dwelling, but a foolish man devours it.” - Proverbs 21:5, 20
“A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and want like an armed man.” - Proverbs 24:33-34
But back to my eerie calmness. It is clear that preparation and planning is a good thing but worrying is not.
“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.” - Matthew 6:25-29
“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” - Philippians 4:4-7
“Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring.” - Proverbs 27:1
So, while I’m sitting here waiting for someone to come and determine whether I need emergency repairs and trying to logistically figure how to get all the storm damage taken care of, I’m also praising God that he has given me a home and so much more.
