We spent three days without power, plumbing, heat and light after the Superstorm Sandy hit Ethan's family's house in Pennsylvania. This meant candles and flashlights, no flushing the toilet and lots of layers! At the time, it felt like forever until we would get "normal" back but I know there are still families suffering from the effects today and so I'm grateful our experience was minor in comparison. It was definitely a miserable at times, as Kaiden and his cousin Avery had trouble sleeping because it was so cold. The whole family stayed in their fireplace room for the majority of our time there and we spent our moments together swapping stories and reading books...we even played "Killer Wink" haha. It felt like someone hit rewind and we were in one of my favorite time period movies.Although, I could easily complain about not having flushable toilets or hot water for a few days, I realized during this time that my temporary reality was a permanent reality for many. There are many without power or plumbing on a daily basis. Of course, it's natural to want it more when you're priviledged with having every day but it reminded me to continually count my blessings. I'm  thankful for the hot showers and the fact that I can shower daily (even hourly!) if I wanted to. I'm grateful for the privacy of a personal, flushable toilet in my own home (in fact, we have three at our base house.) I'm blessed to have light at the flip of a switch...heat at the push of a button...cool air at the push of another button. God has been teaching me lately about how much excess we (and most other Americans) live in. In comparison to some American families, we do live quite simply BUT on a global standard we are extremely wealthy. It always used to bug me when I would hear such comparisons because I realize that their normal may not necessarily equate to our normal, but let's face it -- if we can afford iPhones and a data plan than we are living above our means.All this to say, the minor devastation we faced confirmed a lesson God has been teaching me these past few months. I plan on sharing in more depth about it later but in the meantime, check out some pics of what the superstorm did to the tree line behind their house. It's crazy to think that these trees have so much history behind them and one storm could take it down in seconds!