When the Power Goes Out—Do You See the Contrast?
We’re in the bedroom watching Auburn basketball on TV. The first half is almost over. Auburn is losing.
We begin to feel hungry. It’s about 5:30 p.m. It’s Saturday, our pizza day, so Jeff walks into the kitchen to preheat the oven. He pulls the frozen pizza from the freezer and lays it on the pan.
And then?
Total darkness.
All light disappears. The heat pump is silent. The basketball game is gone.
I reach for my phone (mentally noting that the battery is at 26%) and click on the flashlight app. I stumble into the kitchen to find Jeff. Together we look out the window to see if the neighbors have electricity.
The whole neighborhood has gone dark in our small Alabama community.
/ / /
The woman keeps her phone fully charged at night when possible. She needs it to work so she’ll hear the air raid alarm.
Living in a war-torn city in Ukraine, she’s stopped planning for the future. Her goal is to survive another day, this day, maybe with electricity, maybe not. Maybe with running water, maybe not.
Central heating and the internet are now luxuries she once took for granted. But not now.
/ / /
Jeff and I wonder what we’ll do for supper now that we can’t cook. We decide on salads. 1-2-3 we quickly open and close the fridge to grab the lettuce, cheese, ham, dressing.
I now have candles burning and a real flashlight to navigate the house. It’s enough light to open the crackers from the pantry and get ice from the freezer for our drinks.
We retreat back to the bedroom and close the door, trapping in the heat, hoping it’ll stay warm enough for the duration of the outage. The low tonight will be around 52 degrees F. The bedroom is at 70 now.
/ / /
The surgeon in Kyiv understands the importance of the operation. He and his staff have prepared themselves and the patient. But with no electricity, it won’t be optimal.
Nonetheless, they begin the surgery.
Several attendants in masks and scrubs point their phone’s flashlights to shine on the patient.
The work goes on.
/ / /
I use wifi to check Facebook on my phone. Our neighborhood FB group is currently active: Are you without electricity, too? Does anyone know what happened? Did you hear the sirens shortly after it went dark?
No one has answers.
Jeff and I finish our candlelight dinner. We hotspot his iPad and find a YouTube comedy show to watch.
In the dark we snuggle under the covers and laugh at the jokes by the comedian.
We comment that maybe the power should go out more often.
/ / /
Waves of missiles rise through the air, targeting Ukraine’s energy grid. Many more Ukrainians—millions now—are without power as the season’s temperatures continue to drop.
Without their energy infrastructure, homes and businesses and hospitals and schools cannot function.
Basic needs cannot be met.
The coldest winter months are still to come. . . .
/ / /
Two hours later . . .
Light! Heat! TV!
In another blink of an eye, as quickly as it went out, the electricity whirs back on. Everything comes back to life in our house.
We have to reset our microwave clock, our TV internet, and recharge our phones. I return the candles to their shelves.
I plug in my laptop. Jeff checks Twitter. The Auburn basketball game is over; they lost to Memphis 72-83.
We still don’t know what caused our power outage.
But we no longer have to worry about it.
* * *
Oh, the contrast. {sigh}
Share your thoughts in the comments.
- Grace & Truth Linkup, December 9
- He Still Wears Flesh
Wow! Great post and reminders, Lisa! Thanks for this!
Thanks, Pam. Hope you and your family have a healthy and happy Christmas!
This reminded me of how blessed we are, and how much we take for granted, Lisa. May our Christmas season be filled with the Light of the World.
Blessings!
I know I take WAY too much for granted. 🙁 I need reminders like losing electricity now and again to appreciate the wonders I’m given everyday.
Oh Lisa. How can we even begin to grasp how much we have to be thankful for, and what people across the world have to do to simply survive? Your words definitely help put that in perspective.
I can’t even imagine what people in Ukraine are going through. My mind can’t fathom it. 🙁
oh t he contrast is so true. What first world problems we have. so well written!
Yes, when I think about my everyday complaints, it’s quite pathetic. Lord, have mercy!
Lisa, very powerful. Yes, what a contrast. We should never stop being thankful and praying for others.
I totally agree with you, Deborah. The situation could easily be reversed and it could be me in Ukraine and someone else here…
Sometimes we need that contrast spelled out in black and white. You’ve done that, Lisa. Come quickly, Lord Jesus.
The more I recognize the contrast, the more unfair it seems…. May I at least be thankful and willing to share the blessings I’ve received.
We truly cannot imagine. We have much to be grateful for!
You’re so right, Joanne. I can’t imagine what they endure on any given day…
It’s so easy to forget what winter means to millions of people around the world. I can’t change the world for everyone, but I can reach out and change the world for one.
Great attitude, Anita. I needed to hear that. We can’t do it all, but we can do something. And even our small thing may feel big to someone in need.
Oh wow. What a great post! Right after Thanksgiving, I ordered a puzzle for my new little granddaughter. Several days went by and I hadn’t received any emails or confirmations about my order. I had checked the sellers rating before I ordered. It was 100% positive. I checked to see where the puzzle was coming from. I had not checked that when I ordered. It was coming from the Ukraine! I wondered if I would ever get the puzzle. Then I wondered if the seller was even still alive. I saw the contrast then. I prayed for the seller and decided that if I didn’t get it, I just didn’t get it. I continued to pray for the seller. The puzzle suddenly arrived without any notifications. I’ll never see my little granddaughter playing with that puzzle and not think of that seller in the Ukraine and praying that she and her family is OK. Thank you for a wonderful post and hopefully all who read this will see the contrast. I’ll be sharing it on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.
Oh, wow. What a poignant story, Tina! That puzzle will be such a tangible reminder to you from here on out. Thanks for sharing it here!
It really puts our relatively minor inconveniences in perspective!
And unfortunately I need to put my minor inconvenience into perspective more often!
Yes Lisa! I too think & pray for those in the Ukraine living with the horror of war, an unthinkable thing in our war free countries.
May we continue to pray for justice & peace against such evil!
blessings, Jennifer
Joining you in prayer, Jennifer…
Lisa, we take so much for granted here in America. I know when we were on the mission field in Albania with water only 2 hours a day if we were lucky and electric one hour, we sure learned what was important.
But I will never trade those quiet hours reading to my 3 small children by candle light or playing games as a family by the woodstove for any amount of water and electric.
How many times we would all be disappointed when the lights came back on!
Oh my, Donna. I can’t imagine those living conditions you endured. It’s so easy for me to take both the small and large conveniences here for granted. But people all over the world get by with much less, and still are able to find contentment. May I learn to do likewise. Thank you for sharing this, friend.
Oh my a contrast indeed. You know, this is such a deep lesson here. I appreciate you sharing this with Sweet Tea & Friends this month.
Merry Christmas dear friend.
The contrast is almost too much when I really think about it. My heart and prayers go out to those who are enduring such tragedies day in and day out while I sit here in my warm house and with a full belly. 🙁 May we not take these blessings for granted. Merry Christmas to you too, sweet Paula.
A very thoughtful post, Lisa. Thanks.
Yes we’re privileged to be able to treat a power failure or an internet outage as a temporary inconvenience. Everyone else everywhere else on the plant should have the same privilege.
I agree, Harry. Many of our luxuries are possible for others to have as well, all around the globe, if only we could all address the injustices of this world. I appreciate the books and information you share to help enlighten us on making the world a more equitable place.