Momentum For Monday, July 3rd 2023
Someone must have joined along in praying that I’d get power back, because once I sent out the email yesterday, it wasn’t long until power was restored. We were so happy to come back from a coffee and phone charge run (charging our phones in the car). The power company said we weren’t to expect power back until today (Monday) and we were believing them when we didn’t see any progress being done on a down power pole in our neighborhood. But as usual, I have a quick story for you.
We knew there were expected storms on Saturday and we were happy about that because anyone in the St. Louis area knows that we’ve been in a drought. To hear that there could be a possibility for rain actually made us hopeful. However, as my mom, nephew, and I left the grocery store Saturday afternoon, we saw the skies starting to get dark. We hurried home trying to get the groceries in the house before it would start to downpour.
Thankfully we made it home and put everything away before the storm rolled in. Because I love watching a storm come in, I stepped outside to enjoy the weather and much needed rain. In true midwest fashion, I saw some pretty dark and low-hanging clouds overhead along with some strong winds. A few moments later, we knew it was time for everyone to head to the basement and seek shelter.
Growing up and living in tornado alley makes me used to heading to the basement in bad weather. It’s not an usual thing to seek shelter a few times a year. However, I few more concerns than usual this time.
The low-hanging clouds coming over us had a slight spin and the wind was stronger than I remember in years (and I’ve been in a hurricane). Normally, we hear sirens go off to warn us ahead of time to seek shelter, but we’d not hear anything. I wasn’t sure if a tornado was starting from all the tree debris flying in the air but we became quickly concerned.
The worst of the storm was over within a half hour. We lost power about 10-15 minutes into it and I saw tree that was down in the back of our yard. We’ve lost trees before over the years, but I realized how fortunate we were.
The direction the wind was blowing and the direction the tree fell over doesn’t make sense. When the tree collapsed, it should have hit our fence and possibly our pool and shed, but it didn’t. Instead, it fell along the edge of the yard hitting nothing but the ground (the picture for today’s post is a picture I took of the tree). To have only lost power seemed too fortunate. Look, I’m not complaining, I just realize the protection of God over us.
We made the best of things, even after getting little sleep. Everyone kept a positive mindset while we cleaned up, knowing that things could be so much worse. It wasn’t the way our weekend was planned, but things happen out of our control sometimes. But as I sit in the air conditioning on my laptop with Wi-Fi again, I’m sure happy to be back in business, little sleep or not.
Hopefully, as you read this, you’re also sitting in the comforts of modern-day conveniences. To all my folks in the U.S., have a happy Fourth! Stay safe this week!