It’s Electric Boogie Woogie Woogie

If you have ever been a volunteer at Bethlehem Farm you know that during your orientation you are instructed to take off watches and turn off cell phones in an attempt to, for one week, live on God’s time.  It is an exercise in trust and detachment; an exercise that we at the Farm have been patiently experiencing the past few months waiting for the electric company to switch our power lines from one that runs directly through the build site of the caretaker residence to one that runs a safe path around the site. Earlier posts on this blog suggest that ground should have been broken on the Caretaker Residence last September; however that was not the case.

The power company is here!

In July 2012, Appalachia experienced the devastating Derecho which left 2.5 million people without power.  Bethlehem Farm was without power for 11 days.  We were lucky.  Understandably the electric company was busy for months repairing lines.  East coast of the Unites States was slammed by Hurricane Sandy.  While leaving West Virginia with a blanket of snow, Sandy devastated the New York City and the Jersey shore (even more than MTV had already done with Pauly D and JWoww).  Just as in the Derecho, all hands were called on deck and the electric company was back on the job providing relief to those in need. Just as the Farm’s time for service from the electric company again approached in October, 2012, the Ground breaking was pushed back even further.  We were finally informed by project manager Mark Solak that the electric company would be showing up to the Farm on Wednesday, January 16.

The power company also installed a shorter anchor for the pole, since the old anchor will be dug up during excavation.

Unfortunately, heavy rains, flash floods and another blanket of snow would be the order of the day and, understandably, as with anybody doing electrical jobs, work does not happen when it’s POURING RAIN! FINALLY, Bethlehem Farm caught up with God’s time!

On Monday, January 21, after months of patient facades, the caretakers cheered as electric company trucks turned onto the Caretaker Residence work site access road to start the work on our future home. We’d like to offer prayers for all of those affected by natural disasters and express gratitude to the disaster relief organizations who displayed God’s true love in service to their neighbor and taught us the valuable lesson of patience.

Next up:  Breaking News on Groundbreaking Ground Breakers