Heartthoughts: The Longest Night

“Howard, look at the stars!” I murmured in awe as I joined him on the porch swing. It was 2:30 a.m. My husband had sought refuge from the hot house and was dozing fitfully sitting up in the swing. Our power had gone off hours before during a thunder storm. And not just ours, but the whole town was blacked out. (I found out later it was whole county.) That is why I could see the stars so brilliantly against the velvet sky. The moon that had illuminated everything so brightly earlier had set while my tired body had evidently succumbed to slumber in spite of the heat.

The storm had hit just as we were leaving the house last evening for a Bible study at the home of friends. We noticed the traffic lights were out right away, so we knew it was widespread. The Bible study went on, nonetheless, the hostess lighting an oil lamp and candles, although we still had some late summer daylight left. Of all evenings to have a record turn-out for the meeting! Though a little stuffy, we managed fine, with lots of jokes bandied about like, “We have the Power, now we just need electricity!”, and the warm good-humor in the novel situation.

Our good humor evaporated, though, as we tried to bed down in our dark house. We managed to find a couple of flashlights, and I lay down on the sofa near the screen door for a breath of air. I had told my husband he could have the bed, where he would probably be cooler sleeping alone. But he sat long and late on the swing playing his guitar until I fell asleep. He had later come in, found it too warm, and opted for the swing where I found him. By now it was a cooler 74 degrees, so I persuaded him to lie down awhile.

This morning he was wild for coffee, so we set out in the car to search somewhere for a bite to eat. Our neighbor drove in just as we were leaving, telling us he heard on the car radio that the power might come on between 10:00 and 12:00. We tuned in a station and learned that Blackwell, about 15 miles away had had their power restored. It was a beautiful morning now, with 70 degree temperatures and the sun just coming up.

Waiting in the drive-through at MacDonalds, we were eager for coffee and breakfast. As Howard prepared to pay at the window, the attendant said “Go on through. The lady in front of you paid for your meal!” How nice! We couldn’t have known her, but what a surprising gesture! (Maybe we looked like power-outage refugees, though!)

Thankfully, our power came back on promptly at 10, and I was able to do laundry and enjoy the beautiful weather by hanging clothes on the line. The brief interlude of inconvenience--punctuated by the fringe benefits of sparkling stars, neighborly kindness, and cooler temperatures, not to mention the rain--was past, but we would remember the blessings long after.