power outage = good thing

I woke up to a power outage this morning... which is usually not a good thing. But today was different.

At 6:00am on the dot, I heard a loud "BANG!" outside, and everything went quiet and dark. My bedroom fan stopped, the streetlights were no longer shining through my windows, the neighbors loud TV went mute. You know how it is when things are too quiet... when everything is too still, too dark. Fortunately, I had a flashlight on my nightstand, so with a quick slip-on of the slipper and a fuzzy bathrobe, I was fully prepared to explore the dark and try to find out what had happened. But that wasn't the really good thing about today.

It took me ten minutes to find an old utility bill with a customer service phone number on it, so by the time I called to report the outage, the dispatcher simply replied, "Oh yes, we've received several calls and already have a truck on the way." Before I'd hung up, I saw the flashing lights of a large utility truck rolling down the street. But that wasn't the really good thing about today.

Another fortunate circumstance was that I love to take candlelight bubble baths, so my bathroom was already fully stocked with more than enough candles to light the entire house. Getting dressed and ready for work was not a problem. But that wasn't the really good thing about today.

I was planning to take an extended lunch break today to help out a friend in need, so I wanted to get to work early to make up the time. I was at my desk and working one full hour earlier than usual, which turned out to be the exact amount of time I needed to make up. But that wasn't the really good thing about today.

Being at work early, I was actually at my desk at the time that my cell phone alarm normally goes off to wake me up in the morning. But it didn't go off. Having gone to bed really late last night, I apparently I forgot to set it.

Had the power not gone out, I would not have woken up early, or been to work early, or been on time to take my friend to her doctor's appointment, or made up the time away from work to keep from losing pay. In short, my day would've really stunk.

But God knew I didn't set my alarm, so He provided a plan B. And it's always a good thing to know that the Lord has your back... :-)