This morning as I rolled over in my bed in attempt to regain my comfort, the fan clipped onto the bunk bed I share with my sister suddenly stopped. The power had gone out and it was 3 a.m., and an hour and a half before I was due to get up. I got out of bed to let my mom know the power was out, but her and my brother had already convened in the living room to discover the reason for the outage. They went outside and saw that the lights on our street had all gone out, it was the transformer. Knowing that, I returned to bed and tried to go to sleep. As I lay in my bed hoping to get a bit of rest before my alarm woke me to tell me it was time to wake up and shower for work, I lay there looking at the plywood that holds my sister's mattress up above. It's decorated with foam moons and stars that glow when it's dark, but, because of my alarm clock and my stereo light illuminating my room, they can hardly be seen glowing, like stars drown out by street lights. Laying there this morning at 3:15 a.m., I had an overwhelming feeling of peace and joy when I saw those stars and was reminded of a conference talk. The talk was about a family that for a long time was too poor to have electricity in the small farm house. One year they had an abundance of crops and could afford electricity. Eventually, the family slowly began to grow apart and weren't as grateful as they had once been, though they had a great deal more than they had ever had just a short while before. The father realized this and decided that they would celebrate Thanksgiving like they had before, with just the light of a candle. It wasn't as bright as it was with the lights on, but they were reminded of just how blessed they were and how ungrateful they had become. It was truly a blessing in my life to be reminded of the simple principle of gratitude and Thanksgiving in such a memorable way. Anyone that knows me knows that I love looking up in the night sky and seeing the moon and stars, so I think the power was meant to go out for this simple reminder. It was one of the nearest experiences I think I've had, which goes to show how lame I am, but that is beside the point. So, if you're feeling like you don't have enough, or you Aren't being watched over, known that you are, you just have to recognize the little things in life. They truly make a difference in how you view your day. Give everyone you come in contact with today the biggest, even goofiest smile, you never know, it could change someone's life, even yours!
-Becah
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