A restless night!

Last night was exhausting! I finished one item I was working on (something I am sewing for someone) and cut another one out. I felt like I had my momentum.... FINALLY!

The kids were asleep... Steve was asleep... and my night owl tendencies were in full bloom. I could hear the wind howl from time to time, along with occasional rain drops in sudden fast pace. The cable flickered once.. the cable flickered twice.. all was well.

Then 1 AM I was beginning to drift off and the power flickered. The lights came back on and then it was out for good. HC screamed in terror for 'DADDY'. A sound that breaks my heart when I think about it. He scurried to grab his flashlight and rescued her. Then JB called out and Steve rescued him too. We told them all was well but that the electricity was off. They soon relaxed and began talking away. Now we were all on an adventure together.

HC shared how scared she was and JB agreed that he too was scared at first. Then JB said "I'm not scared. I'm gonna let my wight shine. That's a song in my cwass." HC said "Heyyy.. that song is in my class at church TOO!!" We began singing that song (on the Hillsong kids CD) and they soon were wide awake!

Next it was "I'm hungry!" "Me too! I'm hungry too!" So we opened up the peanut butter crackers and HC was beginning to be scared again since it was so dark and the candles were on... it just looked different. She said "I'm scared". JB said "Sit wif me stister. I will share my wight with you so you won't be scared." The 'wight' he was talking about wasn't a flashlight or any visible light. He was talking about the light of Jesus. It was so precious! I know the understanding level wasn't fully there for either of them but the innocence of the conversation really made my heart smile!

Eventually we all found a fairly cool place to lay down and we slept as well as we could manage without our fans. I woke around 4 AM and began to worry about our packed freezer and fridge. I prayed for another layer of insulation to keep all of our perishables cold. We tossed and turned and HC woke us every half hour ready to get up. We all began really moving around at 9 AM and still no power. Finally at 9:30 the power came back on but our adventure is forever sealed in my heart. Even in the midst of chaos our kids managed to find fun - they remind me to stop and enjoy the simple pleasures of life.

(This was JB's first night like this - without power. Thanks to Hurricane Katrina... HC had several nights like this when she was about 2. I have fond memories from when I was young of nights when the electricity was out. Thankfully this one wasn't unbearably hot!!)