As I moved through my day, I was seeking to step back into my daily rhythm and routine, especially after staying up for a good portion of the night before as part of a youth lock-in. I was fortunate enough to get home and drop into bed by 5 a.m., so I got a bit more sleep than I anticipated. Even so, I was still in need of my regular rhythm and so my husband and I opted to head out for a couple of hours in the afternoon to relax a bit together, people watch, and provide me some time to decompress through talking and planning for what I hoped to do before the day was done.
Of course, sometimes, plans don’t always go as planned.
We headed home with minds full of ideas and plans for a bit of fun and creative work, getting our girls some dinner, and for my heading to bed early to help my brain and body get back into its natural rhythm in anticipation of the coming week. Pulling into the driveway I read a text from our neighbor even as our oldest teen opened the door, both indicating the power was out in our neighborhood. Given that there was no storm, no wind, no rain, the power going out was perplexing to say the least (in fact, I had expected such a possibility the night before as I raced a storm home at 4:30 a.m.). As I often try to remind my girls, however, when you have zero control over your circumstances, you still have control over yourself—your attitude and response. So, we tried to make the best of it.
Clearly, we were not going to be able to do the things we planned, which was mildly frustrating, but we could at least take a family drive and enjoy some time taking in the beauty of the Biltmore Estate. The hope, of course, being that the power might return before the power company’s estimate of 9:00 p.m. There is something relaxing about the Biltmore property, especially on an evening when the car windows are down and the sun is filtering through the leafy green of the trees and alighting the spring flower colors. During this time of year there are also goslings along parts of the drive and the sheep to behold and the quiet to bask in. Each of these provided me with a bit of the rhythm I sought.
Still, there was the lingering knowledge of the ongoing power outage and my husband’s checking for updates let us know circumstances were not changing. But, we have gotten pretty good at shifting plans, and, so we made a dinner plan for our oldest and considered options for our youngest; Chick-fil-A for the oldest and fingers crossed for waffles at home for the youngest at some point. The first plan being successful, there was hope for power at home.
Alas, not at first. And, at this point, my lack of sleep became a bit of a challenge in the face of my inability to change unchangeable circumstances. In other words, my flexibility and lack of being able to adapt in the moment was increasing my frustration. As I know and remind my teens, lack of sleep tends to create greater challenges in one’s mind than the reality. Fortunately, my family had greater flexibility than me, and, once again, I was a recipient of grace and an outpouring of love and empathy from my teenagers and my husband. My oldest shared some of her waffle fries with me, my youngest ate a banana and part of an apple and opted to head outside where there was more light, and my husband took over things like finding flashlights and lanterns as the darkness filled our rooms.
Almost always it is easier to power on when one is steeped in love and grace. And always I am impressed with the ways our teenagers demonstrate their growing flexibility and abilities to encourage and support those around them and find ways to help themselves as well. The power came on earlier than expected, food was prepared for the youngest, I was sent to bed to read, rest, and eventually sleep. And, as I settled into my bed for the night, I was reminded just how blessed I am each day by these two remarkable young women. I was reminded how powerful our connections are. And I was deeply grateful for the help my family provided me to rest in the out-of-routine of the night’s rhythm even as I realized how the night’s rest would help reset those things.