The upside of unplanned emergencies
September 27, 2007
By John W. Kennedy
“Though the fig tree may not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines; though the labor of the olive may fail, and the fields yield no food; though the flock may be cut off from the fold, and there be no herd in the stalls — yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation” (Habakkuk 3:17,18, NKJV).
After months of work, our yard no longer looks like a war zone. In fact, grass I planted where half a dozen tall trees once stood now makes our 1-acre property look fairly normal.
Back in January the situation seemed grim. During the great ice storm that struck Springfield, Mo., and much of the Midwest we lost power for eight days in the dead of winter. The 2-inch layer of frozen precipitation destroyed or damaged all the trees around our house, with fallen trunks and broken limbs covering huge patches of ground.
Certainly the spoiled food, home displacement, dog kenneling, tree topping and stump grinding cost money better spent elsewhere. And all the hours of sawing, stacking, hauling, burning, landscaping and replanting filled my weekends for longer than I care to remember.
While I lament the loss of trees that provided wonderful evening shade, there are many reasons to be thankful for such a disruption of the normal.
• No tree toppled onto our house. No one inside got hurt.
• The Branson motel my family stayed in gave us a special “winter storm” rate, showing compassion on the displaced. Some local lodging establishments hiked rates to take advantage of the plethora of customers.
• Our cockatiels survived eight days in subfreezing temperatures.
• I can now see where my neighbors live. Trees that are no longer there had shielded both sides of the house. I got to know my neighbors better as we all worked in our yards after the disaster.
• Working outdoors every weekend this spring improved my health.
• I gained a deeper appreciation of my brother Dave and his wife, Betty, who provided hours and hours of labor to saw down trees, rake limbs, burn debris and stack wood.
• We will have wood for the fireplace for several years.
• I gained a renewed sense of awe at God’s power. The fact that frozen precipitation could uproot a 70-foot tall tree and leave a hole in the ground 5 feet deep shows how marvelous God’s creation is and how we need to revere Him.
John W. Kennedy is news editor of Today’s Pentecostal Evangel.
“God is faithful to His Word. Before the Israelites began the last of their journey into the Promised Land, Moses instructed them in Deuteronomy 2:7 to remember that Almighty God had been with them during the past 40 years and would continue to be with them. It was important for them to remember God’s faithfulness.”
“The Lord Has Blessed You,” Bernadette Quinn
Today’s Pentecostal Evangel, September 23, 2007
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