thoughts on daily life within our family of SIX....each child in her own phase of childhood....

Monday, September 15, 2008

Simplicity


My children are put to bed--Laura, Mary and Kerry. You know--Ingalls.

This is our second day without electricity, and as we said our prayers tonight, the big sister said, "I don't know whether to pray for electricity or not. I like playing 'Little House on the Prairie'...but it would be kinda'nice to have a/c."

Hurricane Ike paid us a memorable visit. But along with downed trees, a saggy, "broken" ceiling and some roof trouble, Ike packed some blessings in his bag. Blessings much bigger than any trouble that he brought to our family. Ike took out our electricity, and along with that, many of our distractions that sometimes keep us from being together even when we are together.

At no time over the past couple of days have we tried to talk to each other over the din of the evening news--or even over the background noise of "Little House on the Prairie". Mom and Dad have not been distracted by checking e-mail or blogging (gasp!). We haven't been rushing to answer phones...our land line has been completely down, and we've only had sporadic service on our cells.

We've been out in the yard today--cleaning up together. I don't think we sat on the couch once. And we even made it to church this morning where the priest and deacon led parishioners in worship in a very dim sanctuary--lit only by candles (and I suspected a flashlight).

Tonight at bedtime, the kids and I played guessing games about what the light from the flashlight looked like on the ceiling. Of course, there were shadow puppets, too. Giggles and laughter bounced off the walls in our bedroom. Little Man fell asleep holding my hand, snuggled up next to me on our bed. His sisters' giggles were his bedtime music. As I tucked the girls into "bed" (a pallet on the floor), they called me "Ma" and chided me for calling them by their real names.

Now, after the kids are asleep I sit by an open window and write by candlelight. I can't help but feel joyful. Life here on the "prairie" is good. There's a different focus here. We like it. The kids like it. My daughter is wondering whether she wants the lights to come back on and all to return to normal. We are nothing if not blessed.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

It is so nice to hear of the blessings that come out of something awful. This last winter we had an ice storm. We were with out power 3 days. Which doesn't seem to long, except that it was REALLY cold in our house!!But I know we were blessed during that time. We sat on the couch huddled in blankets with the candlelight and had the best conversations! Sometimes it takes losing all the modern convieniences to see what we really miss out on!

tiki_lady said...

we were hit by storms also and without electricity and without heat. I too, like shutting out the noise. They often ask if we could pretend that we did not have electricity or hot water. our gas was also effected.

It's good to have fun with our children. It's good that they don't want the electricity back on.

Amy said...

What a beautiful post. We should all be so fortunate as to weather such a storm and be left with the consequences.

Indigo Children said...

Beautiful post (and perspective). Your kids will remember this time fondly.

It is a strange gift --how the wind and weather can strip away (among other things) distractions, focusing our attention on the beauty of each moment.

Our thoughts and prayers are with you also.

Jennifer said...

We stayed for the hurricane, then bolted to College Station by 4PM on Saturday. We were there for 2 nights, then back to Houston, staying with friends in Tomball for another night. It wasn't until last night that we came back home to 'suck it up' with no A/C, but found, to our utter surprise (and my tears) that we had power again!!! I have to say that Michael & I were both looking forward to being "unplugged" for a bit, but when it actually happened, we ran toward the power :) We haven't been attached to the computer until tonight, but had our iPhones to keep up informed on the happenings around the area - and with our friends :)

I wouldn't have made a good Little House-r!!!

Blogahon said...

Praying for your family, too!

What a beautiful post and perspective that you and your family have.

Anonymous said...

The rawness of your honesty and the simplicity the storm brought your family is beautiful. You're in our prayers. Blessings, Whitney