The Return of Power!

Now that the storm is over and almost everybody has power back, unless there was major damage to their homes, we are getting back to our normal routines. It was such a relief to get the power back. In any season there would be the problem of light and refrigeration, entertainment, and telephone, and water for those on pumps out in the country. In the winter there is the additional stress of lack of heat. This outage happened to correspond with a very cold change in the weather. After this, many more homes will have wood as an alternate source of heat and many will install gas appliances. A large number of people bought generators as an alternate source of power during this outage. Future ice storms in the next few years will be easier on some people, although it is never really easy. We like our power.

Through it all, one of the things I noticed about people is how worn out they were looking in general. The ice storm was a break in the normal routine. Some things were harder to do. Problems either seemed to disappear (as in minor worries) or they got larger (as in major health issues). Even though I was getting a good night's sleep in a warm house and eating very well at my husband's parent's house, it was a different routine. I felt weary. The cold, the ice, the damage, the uncertainty as to when it would all be back to normal all had an influence. That was pretty much the way most people felt if they were without power very long. I'm sure there was mild anxiety and depression among many as well. People would call radio stations, crying. Some people had more depression than others. Some even went as far as to have some form of Post Traumatic Stress disorder, particularly if more happened to them than just the power going off.

Along with the stress, a lot of people did a lot of good things to help others and many people shared what they had with others. That was a very good thing.

Now that it is over, people are much more thankful for power.

More Missouri Ice Storm Thoughts

There is a pastor in town who proclaims things like, it is more important to help people than it is to witness to them. He's a works righteousness preacher who downplays the need for salvation and sometimes seems to be saying people do not need to be saved. His big thing is helping others and being loving people. I have no problem with being a loving person who helps others, but he's missing something when he neglects teaching about the need for salvation.

My point is, I was watching this church and this pastor to see what they would do during this crisis. Would they open their church for a shelter? What else would they do? Does he walk the talk or is it all just talk? The first few days, when I passed by the church, I saw no sign of outreach. My guess was they were out of power, just like everyone around them. Today's newspaper had an article written by this pastor about how his church opened a shelter as soon as their electricity came back on a few days ago. They had pictures and he described what they were doing. From all appearances, his words did match his actions this week.

Several churches with power opened their doors as shelters from the beginning and volunteers, mostly their own people, took care of those who were staying there. Restaurants donated food to some and others had meals cooked by their members at the church. The majority of churches had no power for at least a while. One guy was complaining to me on day 4 asking where the churches were. Mainly they were busy dealing with the same stuff everybody else was. I guess he thought Christians were tougher than others or that maybe God spared them so they didn't have to go without power. Throughout the week I heard of teams from various churches offering to help people, removed tree branches, cook meals for shelters, etc. The Christians who were able were busy.

The university, MSU, also had a shelter and took care of people. Their shelter was for people with health problems such as those on oxygen or other devices that require regular treatment daily and, often, power. It was staffed by volunteers which included university leadership. There are some good people in leadership at the university. Any time there is a crisis, they are among the first to step forward to help. After hurricane Katrina and Rita, for example, they offered free tuition for displaced students and free temporary housing for displaced victims. I think they helped them with their other needs as well such as food and practical stuff. There were even teams from the university that went to help with clean up (there still are). It's a great example for the students on how to make the world a little bit better place. The more who take responsibility to help, the better off everyone will be.

Some churches did not help. They claim their insurance will not allow it. What they do not tell anybody is that they had a choice of policies. They chose a cheaper policy that restricted their activities over one that would allow for more freedom in ministry. When they chose that policy, they chose not to do ministry just as a child who deliberately leaves their book at school might claim they can't do their homework because they don't have their book. Insurance is a tool they choose. To blame it for lack of ministry is dishonest and dishonesty has no place among Christians.

Still, the goobers aside, it is wonderful that so many people helped one another. Many homes with power were full of people who did not have power. There was a lot of togetherness.

Missouri Ice Storm Thoughts

When the ice storm started, we stayed at home. The first couple of nights without power we slept by a gas fireplace. For some reason it quit working Monday morning. That night temperatures were predicted to get close to zero, which they did. We went to Lebanon that night to stay with my husband's parents. They had power in spite of the fact that many people there did not have it.

My husband's parents treated us very well. We had delicious meals every night and a nice warm bed. They went out of their way to make us comfortable. We had a good visit. One night we went to the Catfish House Restaurant. I'm pretty neutral on eating catfish. It is fine and I will eat it, but normally I will not choose to order it as there are things I like a lot more. (Kind of like I don't order hamburger helper or hot dogs if there are other choices) This catfish was delicious. I ate a whole bunch, as did everybody else. It was worth going to and I would go again.

My husband still had to go to work, so each morning at 7:30 we drove the 50 minutes back to town. I left my car at his workplace. While he was at work, I would check on the house and take care of things. The first few days I hung out at a Panera and at Barnes and Noble as they had heat and light and coffee for sale. Panera lost it's internet, which was disappointing.

By the third day, the church had power, so I went over there and spent my days. I stayed in the office a lot and sorted through papers, filed and cleaned up and organized. There was a coffee pot, which was kept going. A few people came by and would talk and have coffee. The church could not be used as a shelter because part of it smells bad when it rains a lot. We are working on the problem, but it isn't solved yet.

On Sunday, after we had our power back, we went to get the cats and our stuff. June had baked fresh, homemade cinnamon rolls and crescent rolls. They were delicious.

We had taken our two cats with us to Lebanon and they stayed in the utility room. One cat is old and very thin and feeble. He could not have survived the temperatures in the house of 36-37 degrees. They slept on a heater vent and were very content.

Toward the end of the week, as people started to get their power back and heard that we had not, we got some offers to stay in people's homes in town. The offers were very much appreciated. (And we would have gratefully accepted if things had worked out slightly differently.) We did accept an offer to stay at a house owned by Jim and Suzanne on Saturday night so we could be in town for church Sunday, but the power came on around 8pm Saturday night.

One son, who had stayed in town all week with a friend who had power, was eager to come home and sleep in his own bed. It turned out he had been sleeping on a concrete floor on blankets since the previous Friday (8 days) and he was ready for something more comfortable. He delivers pizza and was working almost every day. People without power could still order and get hot pizza delivered to their homes. I could not believe, on the second night of the storm, when so many were without power, the streets were dark, and the ice and snow were still falling (along with power lines and trees branches), 3 of the customers he delivered to stiffed him (no tip). I guess it didn't occur to them that most people won't continue working in a business, particularly under hazardous conditions, without reasonable compensation. (A lot of my son's fellow employees refused to deliver at all) I can only conclude the stiffers were selfish and had no consideration for their fellow man. My son thought it worth mentioning (being stiffed is rare, even in good weather) but was not unduly upset by it. Most people were thankful and tipped a little bit extra. For that reason, the considerate people, he kept going out and delivering pizza every time they called him, which turned out to be every day because other drivers called in instead of going to work. If you are reading this and you gave the pizza guy a good tip, any guy, you are the reason some kept working so others could get pizza. Thank you, for them. Pizza delivery is a job, not a calling like ministry or such. That goes the same for anybody who is a minimum wage type worker who served you and gets tips. Minimum wage is not an incentive to go above and beyond the call of duty in bad situations and natural disasters. Gratitude goes a long way too. A grateful person who can't tip much is also an incentive to keep going.

Most people during the storm were very kind and shared. One radio announcer, Vincent David Jerico, stayed on the radio 18 hours a day, taking calls from people. People would call in with questions, concerns or needs and others would call in with answers. He connected people to people that way. An elderly person trapped in their house, for example could get out because somebody nearby heard and went and helped (regular emergency and helping services were already overwhelmed). People who had things offered to share with those who did not. They called and told which stores still had things for sale that were needed, like kerosine or generators. So many businesses had no power, those that had it quickly sold out of stuff.

Gas stations developed long lines and often ran out. It wasn't because there was a shortage of gas. It was because very few stations had power to pump the gas. People leaving town, some who were simply almost out of gas, and people like my son, who needed gas to do his job were among those in line. Also people who were filling cans to run generators while their power was out were in line. In the future, many gas stations will have generators and such so this will not be an issue. Some people will also tend to be more aware of how much gas they have and not let it get so low. (There will always be those who never learn, but the smart ones will make sure their tanks always have some gas. Things happen.)