This winter my wife and I got a new generator for our house. Last year we were not prepared for what a lot of Texans call “Snowmageddon.” We live in North Texas and this Arctic front caused quite a mess with Breaking records low temperatures. The result was millions of people had no electric power or water in their homes. In the southwest this is quite unusual and our homes aren’t built like they are in Alaska, New York, or Canada.

But in all the chaos, we were able to come together with our kids and pray and seek the Lord. We needed wisdom for what the best thing for are family to do. We had no power, but we did have water and limited firewood. We were thankful we had enough food to get us by for at least a week.

• The Bible says to give thanks in all circumstances. Thessalonians 5:16
• James 1:5If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.

The word of God is helpful, so we can renew our mind and stand on God‘s promises to get through any circumstance because he is with us. After prayer, we are had a plan and we started to reflect on the goodness of God and being thankful for what we had at the moment. We spent time playing with the kids and having a lot of fun playing hide and seek in the dark with flashlights.  God always gives us opportunity to find joy. And the time went by quickly and we all forgot about all the problems.  My wife and I also had an opportunity to show faith in God change of circumstances and plant those incorruptible seeds and our children.

• Nehemiah 8:10 “The joy of the Lord is your strength.”
• Hebrews 12:2 “Fix our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”
• Proverbs 22:6  “Plant the incredible seed and your children so it doesn’t depart.”

Our next-door neighbor had a pipe burst and we had to turn off their water. We were able to give them a case of water. A couple days later when we were out of firewood, they brought firewood to our house. It was amazing to see the love and kindness at work within all of us.

• Mathew 22:39 “Love your neighbor as your love yourself. “

No matter how prepared we are we will always need help from our God. I love how the Scripture says, he will never leave us or forsake us. Our peace doesn’t come from how much knowledge we have or being ready for anything. Our peace comes from Jesus. And we need him every minute and every second of our life. Blessings!

Written by: John Cody Marshall