This kind of winter reset has happened to us three times in the last ten years. In the winter of 2013–14, we endured ten days with ten inches of ice covered by five inches of snow — close to today’s conditions — yet we never lost power or gas. About four years ago, it was electricity that failed, and the Texas power company rotated us through scheduled outages: forty-five minutes of power every hour or two. Each experience is different, yet the lesson is always the same. Nothing in life is a solid reality except birth and death. Everything else is temporary, shifting, and far more fragile than we like to admit.
What continues to amaze me is the spirit of our community. Schools have been shut down all week — a rare thing — and roads remain unsafe for buses or even routine shopping. Still, neighbors show up for one another. Over the years I’ve seen food delivered to families with illness or newborns, a collection of $43,000 raised for a family whose home was struck by lightning, and countless quiet acts of help in homes and yards. Painting and music are my gifts, and I share them as often as I can, but prayer is something I can offer at any moment I am awake.
I remain humble before the Lord and thankful for the people placed in our lives. “The reward of humility and the fear of the Lord are riches, honor, and life.” — Proverbs 22:4
And I ask myself — is there somewhere you can give of your time, volunteering, today?
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