Power ON!

A few weeks ago we were told we would have power outages 3 days a week from 6am-6pm anywhere from 1-3 months.  Obviously we weren’t thrilled about this but were happy we had a heads up to plan.  Once the power outages started we were quickly reminded that nothing is set in stone in Zambia. The power would go off in between 5:45am and 6:30am and not come back on until sometime after 6:30pm; sometimes as late as 8:30pm. Then there are the days in between that the power is suppose to be ON but goes off unexpectedly. I want go in to detail of how uncomfortable and inconvenient the past weeks have been but I will say they have been challenging for sure and we are ready for this to be over. 

A few weeks ago we visited friends in Nyimba. Kevin was teaching at a conference nearer to their home than ours. He taught 7 times in 2 days just after recuperating from being sick 4 weeks.  Praise God for his healing touch and motivation!  We were very blessed by this visit.  Kevin was able to teach and we had great fellowship with our friends, the Helgrens.  Analiese had a wonderful time playing with their kids and was worn out from all of the fun. The day we returned we had visitors staying with us for a couple of days as well. They were also a blessing!  They had a little boy that Analiese was able to run around with outside.  We had a big birthday party for her on Monday and had a blast. The next day was much slower because it’s our power off day.  Our guests left that morning for a trip to the country of Malawi.  Because of all that’s been going on we were all a pretty tired. We were so tired that I didn’t mind having no internet, no lights, no hot water, no cooking, no opening the fridge… who cares!

The day was so relaxing.  I thawed out and marinated chicken and mixed up our favorite green beans and onions.  It was a perfect evening to grill.  Around 5:55pm the strangest thing happened.  Our power came back on… early!  It was pretty funny considering this is the day I could care less about power and Kevin had already heated up the grill.  We said, “Thank you, Lord” and went on our way.  I decided to make mashed potatoes with the power we were so graciously given.  Kevin turned on the front porch light and Analiese shouted, “Power ON!”  I can’t tell you the joy it brought for me to hear her get so excited about the power.  It was then that I realized she would appreciate the power so much more because of these outages and living in Zambia.  It’s the little things that get us through these uncomfortable and inconvenient times.  I hope I will remember that sweet voice each day when the power goes off at 6am. J