Parenting Under PressureSample

A Simpler Life

Hurricane Sandy covered 1.8 million square miles from the Mid-Atlantic to the Ohio Valley, Canada, and New England. When the power went out, it wasn't an event isolated to a few blocks or neighborhoods. By Tuesday morning, thousands of homes were underwater and over eight million homes were in the dark.

We were lucky. Our home was spared the devastation that so many around us faced, but our power was out, and the community was shut down. Schools and businesses were closed, and there was no Internet or phone service. It was as if we stepped back in time.

At first, being disconnected from the rest of the world was troubling. I crave information, and this storm reduced my cell phone to an overpriced flashlight. I was crawling out of my skin.

As the days passed, however, our family began to adopt a new rhythm. When the sun went down, we went to sleep. When the sun came up, we woke up. Meals were cooked over the fireplace, the children willingly pitched in with the dishes, and time was spent talking, playing instruments, board games, and reading. Suddenly sitting in the glow of candlelight, there was time.

When the power finally did come back, it was bittersweet.

It made me wonder what I had been missing by staring at my phone so much. Why had monitoring the lives of others online been so important? Why had it taken a blackout for me to play a simple board game with my family?

1 Thessalonians 4:11 says that we should aspire to live quietly and mind our own affairs. The blackout helped me see a glimpse of what that could look like. How about you? What would a simpler life look like for you?

Pray that God will show you how to focus more on what’s happening in your home than outside it. Ask Him to show you what activities you could cut out of your life to have more down time together.

For help spending time with your spouse in prayer, sign up for the Oneness Prayer Challenge on FamilyLife.com.