Looking For The Lantern 6/12/2020

Good Morning,

Last night was a long one around our part of the world. A storm rolled through and took out the electrical service for many hours. My day started with prayer and a large cup of Door County Hazelnut Creme Coffee. Now it is time to write.

Proverbs 1:5 Let the wise hear and increase in learning, and the one who understands obtain guidance.

Last evening when the power went out it was still light outside and it was easy to move about the house without any troubles. But, darkness was going to set in and even though our home has a generator which supplies power to the main components of our home it lacks the capacity to light up the whole place. We reserve some of the power capacity to be able to share a cord with a neighbor if needed.  So a flashlight or lantern is needed to get about the house in the dark. We don't use candles just to avoid another emergency like a fire that is not needed.

So just before dark my wife went to the spot where the flashlights are kept and she replaced the batteries if they needed it. I went to the garage and retrieved an LED lantern, it was right where is always is. Everything worked fine and we made it through the night without any problems whatsoever.

My point is this. When the power went out we prayed first, relaxed and went into mini crisis management mode early enough to be ready for a the long haul. Take note. We were as ready as we could be for this mini crisis. We learned a long time ago that being without power in the middle of a below zero spell in January makes for a cold house and possible frozen pipes. We discovered that flashlights need to be checked now and then and an ample supply of batteries is a good idea. Wood for the fireplace is a good idea to have so you can avoid freezing. Instead of a vacation we spent the money on an emergency power system one year. Our basement stays dry because the sump pumps have power to run and pump away heavy rains when the power goes out.

God blessed us with a few emergencies and we soon learned from our mistakes that we weren't prepared as well as we thought. Last night was evidence that placing things so they can be easily found is a good habit. Checking them for operational status twice a year is another good habit we picked up from learning the hard way.

So friends, this is not about "Being Prepared/ Survival 101. It is about learning from past experiences good or bad.  It is about not repeating a mistake. Everything listed above we learned through experiences good and bad.

Think about it. What mistake will you repeat again just because you didn't learn from it the first time?
Make plans for not repeating the foolishness of the same thing over and over again. Frozen water pipes are not too forgiving! Mistakes happen. Experiences come along. Learn from them.

Marty