Do You Have Cabin Fever?

I know I do!!!

Rolling Blackouts

Today North and East Texans (and possibly elsewhere) experienced what electric companies call "rolling blackouts". The power goes off alternately for about 15 minutes or so and then comes back on. It's all planned and there's nothing to worry about...well unless you're in the middle of baking homemade bread, drying your hair or taking a breathing treatment. Anyway, it's nearly harmless....but, boy have I heard people complain like all get out today.

It's 15 minutes people!!!! I happened to have been thrilled when the rolling blackout happened at school. I had just walked in the door at about 7:40am and poof there went the power. I immediately started dreaming of how I was going to spend another day at home. Organizing? Crafting? Redecorating? Cooking? The list was coming along quite nicely when Bruce came through the building with the bad  news that the power would be back on momentarily. And it did. Darn.

This afternoon as I was checking Facebook and email I read many comments about the loss of power today. Some not so nice...some funny...and some down right mean towards the electric companies. Then it hit me. We quickly become dissatisfied when we lose "power". When we have no control over the who is making decisions and the power is randomly on and off it's frustrating. But....how often do we purposely unplug from the power of Jesus Christ (you knew this was coming)....we stop reading His Word, we distance ourselves from the fellowship of other believers, we skip a few church services and then a few more, we spend more time complaining about the sermon, the pastor, the church than we do lifting them up in prayer, we become dissatisfied, angry. WE UNPLUG. And most of the time, we don't think about the consequences of this power failure in our life. And time goes by....and we grow cold, chilled toward the things of Christ, cool towards the body of Christ, and frigid in our actions, attitudes and spirit. WE'VE UNPLUGGED.

The good news is that getting plugged back in is super easy. Confession starts the spark for the renewed energy we can have when we realize that we've distanced ourselves from the power source. God is perfectly capable of restoring the power....HIS power to our lives. Isn't that reassuring? He doesn't need 15 minutes to restore us....it's instantly. For that....I am completely thankful. There have been so many times where I've unplugged because I thought I knew what was best for me....I wanted to avoid unpleasant things, people, hurts....so I distance myself from those things and dealing with those things....and in essence I distanced myself from the power source...and in the long run, I was affected more negatively by the power failure than if I had dealt with those hardships within the power of God's strength.

So....get plugged in and stay there....there is no power outage when you are safe in the shelter of God's hand.

Snuggly

There is a pot roast, complete with carrots, potatoes and onions, simmering in the crockpot as I type up this post. The smell is delicious. I'm in my flannel pants, the fireplace is warming up the house and the smell of freshly brewed coffee struggles to beat out the smell of dinner. Kids are watching Enchanted, Bruce is at work (poor guy), laundry is tossing in the dryer (as always), snow is falling and I am browsing...channels, magazines and blogs. It's a warm snuggly kind of day where you don't dare open the door for fear of freezing your socks off!

I needed today. A day where there was no agenda, no deadlines, nothing pressing. Just me and my kids, something yummy to eat and time to just be. Doesn't everyone?

Hope you're staying cozy warm and all snuggly wherever you are today!

Valentine Tree

As promised to my kids....and written on my blog...I am keeping my word to leave my front room Christmas tree up all year long. We are going to decorate it for each holiday. So, with Valentines Day being next on the calendar, I hit up Hobby Lobby last night for a few little goodies for our Valentine Tree.

It's kind of hard to tell in the photo of the tree, but there is a cross that tops the tree. When I went to remove it to put it with the Christmas decorations, Savannah said, "We should leave it because Jesus is the one who loves us the most." So, we left it....what a wonderful reminder in the middle of such a simple day, to remember ...He does love us the most....now, when I look at the top, I will always be reminded!

White Stuff

Snow days are few and far between here in East Texas. If you're a Yankee and are reading this then you have probably laughed your head off at all the nonsense and bad driving and school closures and stores running out of eggs, bread and milk. But...who cares! I don't know a student, teacher, employee or government official that doesn't like a good ol' snow day! We had a blast together and I am reminded again of all the special things I love about my family....a son who doesn't really understand when I say "get something over your ears to protect them from the cold" (thus the cowboys helmet), a daughter who loves to watch movies with mom 'til midnight and a hubby who will venture out for sobe, chips, bread, candy bars....and diet coke. It was fun while it lasted...who knows...maybe we will see more! (OK...a gal can hope can't she?)