Superstorm Sandy

Continuing on my journey past one thousand gifts....

Superstorm Sandy made her way to us last Monday. We are located inland, outside of Philadelphia and suffered less damage than shore communities. I lost power at work on Monday morning and was home on Tuesday and Wednesday.

I'm thankful for:

1001. Terri receiving her Advent-to-Lent-to-Ascension Wreath on Monday during the storm. Merry Christmas!

1002. seeing a bunny by our front porch step. Take cover!

1003. hard eucharisteo: losing power at 9:30 p.m. on Monday night at home

1004. plenty of candles and flashlights with fully charged batteries

1005. a candy corn scented candle

1006. a roof over our heads and walls surrounding us while we hear the wind roar through the neighborhood

1007. the house creaking ever so slightly

1008. the quiet of no power where we can hear everything

1009. peace in the quiet

1010. a full glass of iced tea poured before losing the electricity

1011. going to bed early and the warmth of sheets, blankets and comforter

1012. Wonderful Husband leaving for work at 5:00 a.m. His safe arrival there.

1013. phoning my mom on her birthday. The only call that went through until later that night.

1014. a day of naps, reading and occasionally opening the refrigerator

1015. The One Year Chronological Bible and reading John 14:1, "Don't let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me." (NLT)

1016. reading that Jesus is the true grapevine, God the gardener and we are the branches and looking outside and seeing this

The first section of our neighbors' tree on Monday afternoon.

Wonderful Husband standing in front of the second section
of the tree that broke off during Monday night.

Another neighbors' weeping willow that was uprooted.

1017. walking around our property and seeing more intact trees than not

1018. hard eucharisteo: no reliable cell phone or text messaging available

1019. the rain stopping and going to pick up my newspaper from the end of the driveway. Seeing the headline of "It's turning ugly: Sandy gains power, aims straight for Northeast," and knowing it was written the night before.

The sky on Tuesday afternoon.

1020. trimming the wicks of the candles in case they're needed for another night

1021. power restored at 2:09 p.m. on Tuesday!

1022. hearing from family and all are safe. Some using generators for power, some never losing power.

1023. a refrigerator chugging softly

1024. warm heat through the vents

1025. a bathtub filled with warm water

1026. a dry basement

1027. only 16.5 hours of no electricity

It was difficult to watch the news and see the devastation that others have suffered from this storm. I have a call in to a tree service to come and evaluate the status of one of our trees. Not an emergency so we'll be far down their list and we'll be patient.

1028. preparing for the trick-or-treaters. Thankful that I don't have to eat all the candy purchased!

1029. finding my "Boo" pin and the orange nails have been painted for quite some time

1030. electricity restored at work on Thursday

1031. all who worked to restore electricity and removed the fallen trees

1032. God who shares our sorrows and our triumphs

1033. playing with Youngest Sweetie on Saturday night and watching Sesame Street

1034. Daylight Savings Time ends. A mixed blessing in "gaining" an hour of sleep, yet the daylight ends much earlier.

This post is linked to A Holy Experience: Multitudes on Mondays, One Thousand Gifts.