The other night was everlasting due to the fact that I was tossing and turning, wrestling from the heat in a failed attempt to focus and ignore the suffocating air and simply fall asleep.
Finally, 6:30 am, the alarm went off, and I sat up anxious and exhausted, calculating in my mind that probably a total of ten minutes of sleep was realistically accumulated. I spent the morning trying to recuperate before personal study - but all was lost at 8:07 am when the click of the electric fan sounded, and I heartrendingly watched as the blades began to slow - before coming to a complete -
stop.
Brownout.
In an instant the world became silent. The next 3 hours of study were a mix of emotions with the combined efforts from all 4 missionaries to keep our sanity and the hopeful prayers on our behalf for a miracle of power restoration.
We saw no such luck.
The day of work was painful to endure. It was nearly impossibly to shake our bad attitudes. Nevertheless, by the time we walked home that night, the slightest wind picked up for the first time in 24 hours.
We mutually picked up our pace and triumphantly marched home to the apartment. We defeated the day, and the thrill of seeing our reward (electricity at last!) was overwhelming relief. Indeed, we do believe in miracles. The rest of the night was bliss in comparison to our previous hours. We planned and accounted followed by my nightly routine, and by 9:40 pm, I was on my back porch brushing my teeth with the optimism that I would get a better night's rest.
But what I noticed on the balcony just to the right, left me jaw-dropped, hand frozen mid 'brush' and drooling the foam of my toothpaste. I was breathless.
I've always loved lightening storms - they have been on the top of my list (along with Disneyland, fireworks, candy and Simon and Garfunkel), but I'm almost hesitant to even try to explain this one, because my words will never do it justice (I will, however, make an attempt for the sake of the story that I have already begun).
There was a storm a few miles to the right of us. Far enough away that I could see the entirety of it - top to bottom and side to side. It was close enough to where it still illuminated the whole portion of the sky I was blanketed under.
I felt like I could see the roof of the universe and the heavens open with each crack of lightening - which was fortunately as frequent as every .0023 of a second. There wasn't a moment that passed by that didn't have magic in the sky! The world had become a permanent strobe light and the electric bolts and sparks of colors squiggling from one corner of this storm to the other became a symphony of natural fireworks. The thunder was no where near close, but the echo of it in the distance gave the earth its own pulse of a heartbeat. I watched it for hours, going late into the night just to absorb it all - taking a "heaven pic" of my reality. The bright light that revealed the silhouettes of the surrounding palm trees with each flicker will forever be imprinted in my mind.
I remember thinking, "This was so worth it! The heat and pain of this day - I would relive it 100 times over just to experience this." Again, the recurring lesson confirmed that the reward usually comes after the sacrifice. The thought that dominated my mind over and over again was, God is so good.
Seriously people, take a look around. Absorb it and realize....life is so good. I'll admit I was pretty much the most negative person in the state of Idaho before my mish. So sassy, but I've been hit with some seriously humbling moments - and in the end, I've just recognized the need to be grateful.
We have a trillion things to be grateful for. No matter who we are or what our situation in life is - Heavenly Father surrounds us every day with miracles and moments that if we choose to be grateful for - can bless our life.
I've learned that the attitude of gratitude will take me so much further in life. I'm trying to apply it even in the harshest of situations, but it's something that will take time to master.
We are all so blessed. I mean....we have the Gospel of Jesus Christ. What else do we need?
- Sister Frame
