(Photo from Associated Press)
Ever wonder what it was like for the early settlers of our country? I’m sure when winter hit, they were freezing cold. How do I know this? Because a good chunk of New England is again without power. After a bad ice storm last night that lasted until early this morning, trees are down everywhere and power is out. According to sources, most of New Hampshire could be without power for a couple days. An Associated Press article on MSNBC.com says, “An ice storm knocked out power Friday to 1.25 million homes and businesses from Maine to Pennsylvania, closing schools and tying up travel, and authorities say it could take days for all customers to get service back.” The governor has issued a “State of Emergency,” which includes a strong suggestion to stay in your homes. If you forget, I live in New Hampshire! Ha! Thank God that I live close to the boarder. I’m now sitting in the Methuen, MA, Starbucks enjoying some heat, electricity, and free Internet (thanks to a unprotected Linksys router in the area). Yes, I am not at home. First, it was getting cold without heat. Second, I had to go to the church to receive a package this morning (that never showed up…grrr). You never realize how important power is until you don’t have it. So many things are going through my head. Will I be able to get my U-Haul tomorrow to help with the move? Will we be able to have our parents & youth leaders meeting tomorrow at the church? How will I print off the lessons and information for the meeting? Will we be able to do our Parents’ Night Out event tomorrow night? Will we even have church on Sunday? Will our youth Christmas party get canceled for the second year in a row because of weather? How long will the food in my fridge and freezer last? What do we do with all the food at the church pantry that needs to stay cold/frozen? How will I stay warm? How can I live without checking facebook and email all the time (ok, maybe I can live without that…ha!)? Sure, most of these things are really no big deal when you look at the bigger picture, but they are still things that run through someone’s head, especially someone as busy as I am right now. The good thing is that I believe in a God who cares, loves, and provides for his children. So, I would like to ask you to pray for the people in New England without power right now. Pray that God will provide for them, and they will have no doubt it was Him who did so. Right now, in the middle of all this economic trouble, you can look at this power outage in two ways. You could see it as just another nail in the so-called coffen of disaster hitting our world. I have chosen the more optimistic route, and I believe this could be a nice break in the electricity bill for some people who are hurting financially. Ha! Thanks for your prayers!!
Steve Cullum 