Getting Used to the Dark

As a result of some very strong storms yesterday, our entire neighborhood was without power until about 9:15 last night. Typically, I enjoy a good power outage. It's comparable to a snow day in that it gives us a barrage of wonderful excuses to sit around and do nothing. I am admittedly and unashamedly a huge fan of valid excuses!

However, this time was different. This time I have a 2 year old. Below I have listed 5 practical things that I learned from my first power outage with Abby:

1. Candles provide soft light, and have a mellowing effect in almost any environment. This is not true when a 2 year old is present.
2. Small children have difficulty coming to terms with the fact that you can't watch Veggie Tales on dvd on the television during a power outage, and will let you and your neighbors know how they feel about the situation.
3. Don't lose the lighter/ matches in a dark house! A flashlight only allows you to search an area of about 6 inches in diameter at a time, and you don't have time for that when your 2 year old is in the other room with lit candles. (Refer back to #1)
4. If you have a laptop, keep it charged at all times! As it turns out, you can watch Veggie Tales on a laptop during a blackout! :)
   
5. Don't make fun of your paranoid husband for strategically placing flashlights and batteries all over the house in case of an emergency. There could be a power outage, and you will have to eat your words.

In addition to the practical lessons that I learned. I had a lot of time to allow my mind to drift to the more spiritual applications that can be drawn from such an experience. Here are just a few:

1. Light becomes much brighter in a dark place. During the outage, I kept the curtains open to allow the last bit of daylight to come into the house. Once darkness fell, I noticed that every headlight, flashlight, outdoor fire caught my eye. This reminded me of something that one of my professors told me in college: "When you're in possession of the only light in a very dark place, everything will come looking for you. You are the most visible, and you will be covered up by the darkness if you don't guard that light." As Christians, we have to guard our light. The light of Christ will attract the good and the bad, and we must be mindful to always protect that light.
2. It's easy to lose things in the dark. Yes, this was a practical lesson, but it was also a reminder of how easy it can be to lose sight of things when we don't have enough light in our lives. Living in the dark is hard. There are always things in our path to trip over, not to mention all of the mental notes that we have to make to keep track of the essentials. In the light there are still things to trip over, and we can still lose things, but at least we can see what it is that is tripping us up, and it's a lot easier to find the things that we have misplaced. The light of Christ does not make things easy, just easier.
3. There are a lot of limitations in the dark. During the power outage, we were so limited in what we could do! This reminds me of my life before Christ. I was so bound by sin and shame that I felt that I couldn't do anything of value...so I didn't. Since meeting Jesus, my life has become a series of milestones and accomplishments, and I look forward to everything else that He has in store for me. My milestones and accomplishments will never be regarded as great in our culture, and very few of them even made the community section of the local paper, but I know that each one is a testament to the faithfulness of God. "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." -Phillipians 4:13
   

The Most Dangerous Place To Be

God uses a lot of different ways to teach me the same lessons over and over again.  He made me, so He knows how hard-headed and stubborn I can be at times. He has to show me the bus, put out a crossing guard, make me sit through a class about pedestrian safety, and put me with people who have been hit by a bus and who are trying to keep other people out of the crosswalk, and maybe...just maybe...I might not step out in front of a moving bus.  

He kicked this notion into high gear when he blessed me with a child.  The day that Abby came into my life, God gave me the greatest illustration of His love and relationship with us that I have personally ever known.  I now know what it means to truly be willing to lay your life down for another, and I know how upsetting it must be for God when other people or things come between our desire for Him and His love for us.  

If you've ever watched Animal Planet or The Discovery Channel, you know that it's never a good idea to find yourself between a mother and her young.  It's the same way with God.  If you need an illustration, just read the story about Jesus' reaction to the moneychangers in the temple.  In Max Lucado's book And the Angel's Were Silent, he does an entire chapter on this story, pointing out that Jesus was not mad because people were making money, or that there was money in the temple.  Jesus was mad because the moneychangers and those selling sacrifices were getting in between God and the people that had come to worship Him.  Imagine how it must have felt for those who could not afford the exorbitant amount of money that was being charged for a sacrifice.  They must have felt that even all they had was not good enough for God, creating a chasm of shame between them and God.  It's never a good idea to get between God and His people.  

Just the thought of someone keeping Abby from me, or making her feel like I might not want to be with her raises my blood pressure, and I can feel the adrenaline start to pump.  It's just not a good idea if you want to walk on two legs for the remainder of your time on this earth.  

Anytime I am involved in a worship service, whether serving or just participating, I always ask God to open my eyes to anything that I might do that would keep another person from drawing closer to Him.  I don't EVER want to be that person.  

The First of Many...I Hope

I don't believe in New Year's resolutions.  Just hearing the word resolution in relation to anything sets an automatic expectation, and permission, for that thing to fail.  However, I do believe in goals.  Goals have meaning, steps, something to work toward, a sense of commitment.  

That being said, one of my goals for this year is to develop hobbies that will develop me as a person.  This seemed like a good place to start.  

I don't have a lot of hobbies.  I have a lot of interests, but not a lot of hobbies.  Just thinking about finding time for hobbies is exhausting to me.  There are just too many balls in the air - taking care of my toddler, maintenance on the car, grocery shopping, working 40 hours and then volunteering 10 at church, keeping in touch with my parents, cleaning the house (when company is coming), and the list goes on and on.  Did I mention that there is a husband in there somewhere that I occasionally spend time with? Although it may sound like it, I'm not complaining.  I truly love the life that God has given me. Often there's chaos, but the slow down always comes right on time.  

I hope that this project not only becomes a great outlet for me, but also a help for all 5 people that will read it...if I'm lucky.