“But we’ll hardly ever need it … but it’s so expensive … but it means we’ll have an ugly propane ‘submarine’ tank in our backyard … but our power doesn’t usually stay off all that long.” That was me last year when my husband told me he was thinking about getting a whole-house generator installed.
“Wow, I sure am glad you didn’t listen to me about getting that generator. It’s awesome!” That’s me every time our power goes out now.
It’s no small thing for me to actually tell my husband I’m glad he didn’t listen to me. Downright historical, I’d say. I’ve probably never uttered those words out loud on any other occasion in our 44 married years together. Of course, that could be because I’m usually right (wink, wink) and should be listened to. But not this time.
In this one instance, the pain of admitting I was wrong has been greatly dwarfed by the bliss of skating through several power outages with our heating/air-conditioning, well pump, lights and appliances all gloriously continuing to run.
When the power goes out, our generator seamlessly kicks in and life goes on normally, or at least as normally as it ever goes, in the Crum house.
Yes, we have an ugly propane “submarine” in our backyard. But I dubbed it “The Hunley” and we enclosed it in privacy fence, so I can now appreciate it without having to see it.
Country living requires some trade-offs and concessions must be made. One of the drawbacks is that we found ourselves without electricity more often than city folks because our power lines are strung through easily damaged pine trees.
But that’s less of an aggravation now that our generator keeps us lit up.
Good riddance to being awakened in the middle of the night when the power comes back on and everything that was turned on when the outage occurred suddenly springs to life again. And to driving around in the car to recharge our dying cell phones. And to filling the bathtub and plastic jugs with water, in case our well pump goes out, every time a severe storm is forecast. And to half-recorded TV shows on the DVR.
Remember the classic fable about the ant and the grasshopper? The ant prepares for winter while the grasshopper parties without giving a thought to the future. When winter arrives, guess who has enough food stored up?
I’ve always been a bit of an ant—an over-preparer—but in this instance, my husband’s insistence on buying the generator has snagged him the all the ant honors.
Let’s face it, storms are going to come—meteorologically as well as those that hit us financially, physically, and relationally—so it’s wise to be prepared. Jesus spoke about that in Matthew 7:24-27: “Therefore, everyone who hears these words of mine, and acts on them, will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock.
“And everyone who hears these words of mine, and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell—and its collapse was great.”
It’s nice to feel prepared for the wind and ice, but our generator won’t be a bit of help when other storms inevitably blow into my life. But faith in Jesus, the supernatural power of His unchanging Word, and the Holy Spirit will be. Because of and with Him, I will stand.