In case you missed it, Texas—the state I voluntarily chose as the place I want to plant my roots and raise my children—was plunged into a horror smoothie of winter storms, sub freezing temps, and massive power outages this week.
We lost power in our apartment at 10pm Sunday night (half way through the final episode of The Queen’s Gambit, I’ll have you know) and did not regain it until Thursday, with hot water still pending. Kind friends who just happened to be on the same power grid as the local fire department welcomed us into their home, where we stayed warm and well fed for three days as temps plummeted.
I just spent twenty minutes staring at half a paragraph wherein I tried to convey the desperation many are experiencing in vivid and poetic terms, but my eyes are crossing with exhaustion. The point is, lots of folks don’t have the friends or options that we have, and they need big help.
I don’t have the bandwidth to link all the wonderful individuals and organizations that are showing up with that help, but fortunately Erin Moon has done an excellent job of compiling those resources. If you want to be involved in relief efforts, allow me to send you to her Instagram highlight entitled “Winter ‘21 Help.”
All of that *gestures wildly* was the nonsense portion of my week. (Oh and also my three year old has an inexplicable fever which is the funnest.) The goodness was mostly offline:
The comfort of being with other adults whose children scream at illogical times and can’t wipe their own noses.
The tender humbling of being given a bed and a meal without ceremony, as if we were part of the family.
The joy of seeing my children play with friends their age, when that sight has been so rare in their short lives.
We bless God, for He Himself is the giver of all good things both on and off the internet.
I’ll leave you with the few internet goodies I have and go to sleep anticipating what you’ll share.
🫖 ☕️ THE ONLY DRAWBACK of hunkering down with our friends was that they drink tea only, and own no way of making coffee. Bizarre, I know. But it did result in my enjoying several cups of this delicious berry situation, which I will now be stocking regularly.
🍩 The size of these bags commands nothing but respect for FLOTUS’s sweet tooth…
❓For when you’re not sure who to believe…
✍🏻 And one for my writerly soul…
That’s it for me fam. Leave me some goodies in the comments. Pray for Texas. Be sweet to each other.