NO
POWER FOR FIFTEEN YEARS

Topics: Daily Bread; Grace; Gratitude; Holy Spirit; Light; Needs; Neglect; Neighbors; Poverty; Power; Powerlessness; Provision; Suffering; Weakness

References: Psalm 37:18–19; Isaiah 58:11; John 4:14; Acts 1:8; Ephesians 3:20; 6:10

When a hurricane hit South Florida, Norena’s home was severely damaged. The elderly woman received an insurance settlement, and the repair work began. However, when the money ran out, so did the contractor, leaving an unfinished home with no electricity.

Norena had been living without power ever since Hurricane Andrew. For more than fifteen years, Norena had been living in a dark house with no heat, no air-conditioning, and not a single hot bath or shower. She got by with extension cords running into her house, plugged into a tiny refrigerator and a cook top, and a small lamp or two in the front of the house.

Acting on a tip, the mayor of Miami-Dade finally got involved. A few hours of work by electrical contractor Kent Crook restored power to the house. Norena planned to let the water get really hot and then take her first bubble bath in a decade and a half. “It’s hard to describe having [the electricity] come on, to switch on,” she said. “It’s overwhelming.”

—CBS Broadcasting, “Woman Has Power for the First Time in 15 Years,” cbs4.com (February 19, 2007)