Northwest Arkansas was hit with a devastating ice storm this week. Yesterday at this time, about 90% of Fayetteville was without electricity. In 100 years, the University of Arkansas has shut down a total of 18 days. Make that 22 now…four of them coming this week. Classes and operations have been canceled since Tuesday and will remain that way again tomorrow. This was a once-in-a-century storm.

It hit on Monday afternoon. On Tuesday, we lost power. On Wednesday morning at a little before 2:00 a.m., the power came on…only to go off again later in the morning. We cooked dinner in the fireplace that night. Tilapia filets and snap peas. Not too bad.

I spent much of Wednesday morning clearing fallen trees from our street. In the afternoon, I brought some college students to the house to hang out with Robyn. We didn’t have power, but nobody seemed to mind. We had enough snacks and a fire going to keep everyone warm.

My firewood supply was starting to dwindle, so I began cutting up fallen tree limbs to burn. The wood was green, but it was better than nothing. We were all making the best of a bad situation. Everyone was in it together.

Then something happened. Something I had not anticipated. Something bad.

The power came back on for my neighbors…but not for me. My next door neighbors on both sides had lights and heat and hot water and television…while our house remained cold and dark.

I called the electric company. A “ticket” was created. I knew what that meant–maybe another week in the dark. One house on a county road was not going to be a priority when whole areas of town are still in the dark.

I’m embarassed to admit it, but I was angry. Really angry.

I was fine as long as everyone was in the dark, but when others had what I didn’t…well, it wasn’t fair. Why me? Come on, God!

I went to bed early…and angry. And I woke up angry this morning.

Fortunately, Robyn (my wife) knows when to encourage me and when to kick me in the butt. She did a little of both today.

I spent some time in God’s word and experienced a further attitude adjustment. A much needed one. For the past few days, I’d been reading in the book of James, specifically chapter 3 verses 13 to 18. I didn’t think I was susceptible to “bitter envy.” Apparently, God knew I would be and was in the process of pruning it out of me.

Bitter envy, along with selfish-ambition, leads to “disorder and every evil practice.” Bitter envy has to go. Like an alcoholic must first admit he has a problem, the first step was recognizing that bitter envy is in me.

Rob (my son) and I came across this pine tree yesterday while walking in the woods across the street from our house. It snapped right in half under the pressure of the storm. The freezing rain froze to tens of thousands of little pine needles and created more pressure than the tree could bear.
I’ve still got too many pine needles–incorrect thinking and wrong attitudes–that get heavy in stormy times. They weigh me down and create stress I was not meant to carry. Bitter envy is one of those needles. It’s probably a whole branch…or two.

The little tree in front of our house has few branches and no leaves. It’s standing straight and tall. Nothing to weigh it down. It survived the storm quite nicely. I need to be be more like that.

I never like being pruned, but it’s the pruned trees that survive the storms and bear the most fruit. The big trees, the old trees, the pretty trees…many of those snapped under the pressure.

Oh, our power came on about six hours ago.