Today as I write this it is Wednesday, February 17, 2021. We have had a week of insane weather here in Round Rock, Texas. We are living through things I have only seen on tv. I grew up in the desert. Although we lived at 5,000 feet above sea level, we only occasionally got snow. Usually we would get one good snow a year. I used to joke that we are the only place where kids see one single snowflake and everyone exclaims, “I wonder if we are going to have school tomorrow!” And more times than not school would be closed the following day due to snow and ice. However, typically by noon the next day all the snow would be melted.
From there we moved to Phoenix, Arizona where it literally never snows. People would travel a few hours north to play in the snow. It rarely ever got below freezing there, and when it did people flipped out!
The first two winters here in Texas were extremely mild. I don’t think it ever got to freezing, and it certainly didn’t snow. Three years ago it did snow a little bit. It was really just a light dusting of snow. Everyone was so excited to see snow. They all told us to enjoy it because it won’t happen for a really long time. Well, they were so very wrong! It did snow again, last year. This time it was more, but still nothing to be concerned about. Like Albuquerque, it melted by lunchtime.
This Past Week
Then 2021 came. My youngest daughter loves the snow and had been asking God to let it snow here for her birthday at the end of January. God answered her prayers. It did snow right around her birthday. Her and our son had a blast going out building snowmen, having snowball fights, and I even saw her just laying in the snow, happy as a clam! I thought it was great that it snowed for her. I, on the other hand, love the warm weather and was glad to see it warm back up.
This warm weather was not going to last long. Last Thursday we woke up to freezing temperatures. Then it started to rain, and form ice on all of our trees and plants. A week later the ice is still there, but now we have snow. Lots and lots of snow. It was fun since the kids were able to play with their friends and go “sledding.” I say “sledding” because, living in Texas we don’t have actual sleds. We had to improvise. They used boogie boards, and a plastic baby pool I bought for the dog to slide down hills. The kids had a blast! It was probably Ashlynn’s perfect day!
All the snow and ice is beautiful and fun. It’s crazy to me to see our rosebushes that had been blooming covered in ice and snow. The red mixed with white is gorgeous! The downside of all of this is that the power in our house went out for 30 hours. We had no electricity to heat our home for over a day. My family warned us that they may start turning the power off for 30 minutes at a time, then on for 30 minutes to conserve energy. Apparently we are all using way too much power to heat our homes during this historic weather. I believe the last time we had this kind of extreme weather for this long was in the early 1900s.
At first, it was kind of exciting. I told the kids it was an adventure. We all had to work together to get things done. Thankfully we have a gas stove so we could still cook food. We found all the blankets in the house and our warmest pjs to wear that first night. Though the temperature never got above freezing, the sun did come out. We have a wall of windows in our living room, and all the windows in the bedrooms face the same direction. We opened the blinds all the way and allowed the sun to come warm up our house. The Best family all thanked God for the warmth of the sun that day. That night we all bundled up as much as possible and slept the best we could. Hopeful that we would wake up to power.
The next day we woke up to still no power. Despite what our family had said about the power being turned on and off, we never experienced that. Once our power went out, it was out. By lunchtime that second day I was over it. I was hungry but didn’t feel like figuring out what to eat. I was tired but too cold to sleep. Leaving the house sounded good until I looked outside at the roads. I felt trapped with no hope of leaving or getting warm. If you know me, you know that warmth is my number one goal in life. I hate to be cold. I love the warm summer days, which is why living in Phoenix was perfect for me.
The sun did come out again that day, and I generally stayed under blankets in the sun. It felt pretty good there. The rest of the house was cold. We also decided to have water boiling to try and warm up the house, even if it was just a degree or two. Besides, then we could make hot tea or coffee anytime we wanted. It was a perk! After about 5 hours of having the stove on, the fumes must have triggered something in the smoke alarms. First one of the alarms started beeping telling us it needed new batteries. The amazing husband that Brett is, went up and replaced the batteries.
Just When Things Couldn’t Get More Interesting
The beeping stopped, only to be replaced with all the alarms going off in the whole house telling us there was a fire. Clearly there wasn’t a fire, even though the house was yelling, “Fire! Fire! Fire!” at us. After what felt like forever, Brett finally figured out how to turn off the alarm. It would only last for a few minutes before it would go off again. After the second time it went off, Brett had the idea that it might be from the stove being on for so long. I turned off the stove, and sure enough it stayed off. Just in case you are ever in this same predicament, don’t leave the gas stove running for 5 hours straight! Your house will yell at you.
Finally at about 4pm the power finally turned back on. It is currently 10:45 am the next morning and we still have power. I am thankful! We aren’t out of the woods yet. It rained again last night, and now there is a nice, new layer of ice on everything. There is talk that the power will go out again for who knows how long, and we may even loose water this time too. We shall see what happens.
God’s Hand Is On Us
Here’s the thing. God prepared us ahead of time for this. The day before our power went out he told our youngest daughter it was going to happen. She came to us and asked where flashlights were. We didn’t know why she wanted them. Both Brett and I gave her an idea of where some might be, but we didn’t help her look. We figured she just wanted them to play with. It wasn’t until the power went off she told us that God told her it was going to happen. The beauty is she acted and found some flashlights for her and her brother and sister. She didn’t panic and wasn’t afraid. She just wanted to be prepared.
About six months ago I felt God telling me to get some extra drinking water and food because we were going to need it. I thought it would be because something crazy was going to happen around election time. Like Ashlynn, I acted, not in fear, but in preparation. Over the course of a few months, I accumulated enough food for all of us to eat for about a week. We also have several gallons of water waiting for us. I am thankful I listened to God. We don’t have to wonder when we will be able to go to the store next. If there is a run on toilet paper like last year, we are ready for it! I suppose 2020 prepared us for the storm of 2021. See, good things came out of 2020!
We are also now prepared for the water to be turned off. God gave us information, we acted, and now we wait and see what will happen. I have pots, bowls, and bathtubs filled with water just in case. God is still showing us what to do ahead of time. Our job is to listen and prepare.
Whatever happens I know that God will take care of us just like he did the first time. He will take care of us just like he did in last week’s post about moving here. I know without a shadow of doubt that God is trustworthy. He will provide everything we will need. My job is to keep my focus on him, and trust him.
I know this isn’t my typical type of blog post. I just thought I would share you with things we are currently experiencing. Things don’t always good smoothly for us. We have struggles and victories just like you. I believe it is how we react to the struggles that determine how bad those struggles feel. I pray that you are encouraged and reminded that no matter what your current struggle is God is with you. God is there and guiding you. Listen to his voice and act. Then what the Devil intended to harm you will only slow you down for a moment. God will turn it around for your good, just like Romans 8:28 says. Keep trusting Jesus. Keep seeking him for direction. Remember Psalm 37:5 (ESV), “Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him, and he will act.”
Here are some pictures of our snowy day:
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