I am never more aware of how much I thrive on routine until my routine is temporarily turned on its head. This week in North Georgia we were hit with a storm that left us with close to 8 inches of snow and no electricity for nearly 22 hours. Our power was finally restored at 2:00 am this morning. It was a glorious moment and I resisted the urge to hop out of bed, do a little Elaine (from Seinfeld) dance and go make a pot of coffee just because I could.
As I drifted back to sleep, the image below filled my mind. 
These are pictures I took on my first trip down to the Dominican Republic. It’s where my previous church (and the mission team I was a part of) would go to hand out rice and beans. This little community located in a remote region up in the hills of El Cercado lived without power, not just for 22 hours, but every day of their lives. It is their routine. It’s amazing how this road and these houses are images that have taken up permanent residence in my heart.
These memories are a reminder to me of when the light bulb came on inside my heart. It was the moment when I finally started to understand (on a much deeper level) that life isn’t about me. Life is about loving others. True joy is found in serving one another. This is the power that lights up our life!
I don’t ever want to forget that this is the secret ingredient to life. Sometimes…I think it’s coffee…but really it’s the ability to reach out and love others.
22 hours without power and I had a hard time functioning. But, it was a temporary inconvenience, a little hiccup in my daily routine.
Today, this Valentine’s Day, take a moment to be thankful for all those things we sometimes take for granted. The health of our loved ones, consistent electricity, clean water, a car to get us to and from work, carpet to vacuum, dishes to wash, toilet paper and bars of soap.
The list goes on and on.
Happy Valentine’s Day!
Love this post, and definitely agree that it’s so easy to take for granted all that we are blessed with already.
Yes it is, thanks Don
great post . great DR pics. 🙂
🙂
I remember that street well, Eileen. Thank you for the reminder. It’s on my “list” to return. Hope you guys enjoyed the snow. My brother said it’s melting quickly, which is either a good thing or a bad thing, depending on one’s perspective, I suppose.
It definitely stick in your heart. Yes, the snow was practically gone next day here! Which, I was kinda glad to see. Love the here one day gone the next kind of snow!
Sometimes life puts things in perspective for us. I was recently without hot water for over a month. So yes, my routine was out of whack for awhile. It makes one much more appreciative for the everyday things when life suddenly takes it from us for awhile. God is good.
Yikes, no hot water. Those are some COLD showers. Brrr.