50 Days: The Power Outage 2011

Whew! What an interesting last few days! Violent tornadoes swept through Alabama last Wednesday, leaving so many people without homes and even without loved ones. I cannot imagine the devastation and heartache that so many are going through right now. We were amazingly blessed not to have suffered any damage. We are all healthy and well. I have been counting my blessings and thanking God for sparing us in His grace and mercy, while asking Him to heal the many broken hearts of neighbors in our community.

I have even more blessings to count today than I did a week ago. Or maybe I just recognize them now for the blessings that they are. We have our lives, we have our home, we have wonderful neighbors, and I have an amazing little Rodgers family. I love my husband and children more today than I did last Wednesday- and I thought I loved them as much as I possibly could. They have proven to be strong, resilient, wonderfully stable, happy little children and my husband has proven yet again to be The World's Greatest Husband. :)

Brian is not just a good husband and father, he's a good man. He is the man you want to have around in a crisis situation. He can do anything! Our entire city (and many surrounding cities) lost power the night of the tornadoes, and we were told it could be up to a week before the power would be restored. The very next morning, Brian was firing up the camp stove, fixing coffee for me in the camp perculator and eggs for the girls on the stove. He got his generator from work and not only hooked up our freezer and refrigerator, hooked up four other neighbors to it so they wouldn't lose all their food. He has such a big heart. He continuously checked on all our neighbors, helping them charge their phones and letting them use our deep freeze if extension cords couldn't reach the generator. Thursday and Friday he went with some men from our church to remove fallen trees and logs and debris from people's homes and yards. Friday night he set up a tent so the girls and a neighbor friend could camp out in the backyard.  I am so proud to be with a man like that. Honestly I don't know any other men like him. He is awesome!! Thank you Lord for a good man!! Here he is fixing pancakes for the camping girls on Day Two. . .

Fixing eggs and coffee on Day One. . .

The generator that kept our frozen foods from spoiling and powered up the neighbors. . .

The fire and tent he set up for the girls so it would be like camping. . .

Yes, he is a good good man. I am thankful for him. I'm also thankful for the kids getting to play outside with neighbor friends in the BEAUTIFUL weather for four days straight. They had a blast! I never heard "I'm bored" or any other complaint. We play outside a lot anyway, but it was actually really nice not to have the distractions of TV or computer or even running from place to place trying to stay busy. We relaxed and enjoyed the mild temperatures, beautiful sunshine, and camp vacation feel. I got to know several of the neighborhood kids better and really spent time playing with them. Our children never had a lack of playmates. Rosie never had a lack of attention either. . .

They painted faces on the first day, and I got in on the action. . .

We had block parties three of the four nights. Neighbors congregated in each other's yards with their grills and whatever meat they had in the fridge that might spoil. I got to visit with neighbors I rarely ever see. It was wonderful!

We discovered at one of the block parties that Rosemary LOVES corn on the cob! . . .

It has actually been quite a blessing. I was a little sad when the power came back on at midnight and the fun was over. However it has been nice to do some loads of laundry and dishes this morning, since this was the extent of the "laundry" I did this week. It was necessary since I had just run a load of cloth diapers that were going to sour if they didn't get dry. :) Now there are about 8 loads of laundry to be done. I will never again take a dishwasher, washing machine or dryer for granted. :)

Samuel and I continued to grow, and I discovered that a hairdryer and makeup weren't 100% necessary. :)

We had a very busy weekend planned. The older girls were going fishing with their Grandaddy, I was supposed to speak at a homeschool mom's meeting at church, we were visiting a beekeeper and doing Panoply over the weekend. But God had other plans. :) I'm glad we had this opportunity to bond as a family and community.