The final results - lights or no lights?

We survived our week of minimal electricity! I'm so thankful that Bruce had this wonderful idea. To back up a little before I tell how it went I want to let you know why we did it. We had a huge financial change come into our lives (we all love those) so we had a family meeting of what we were going to cut back on. We got rid of our satellite TV, cut back on some outings and we were stressing the importance of turning off lights when we were done with them when Bruce mentioned trying a week with no electricity! I thought he was joking at first. As we talked about it and realized the things that we really should keep on, we found this was a doable goal. These were the plans: We could keep the frig, freezer and garbage disposal on. We could recharge cell phones as needed and use the computer for one hour every day. We could eat either cold meals or something we could cook on the grill (we have a burner on the side of the grill so that helped a lot). No lights, TV, stove, oven, microwave, radio, computer for long term, vacuum, washer, dryer, dishwater, garage door opener, etc.

I really missed the microwave, especially at lunch time and the crockpot for those crazy days (Arby's and Papa John's helped us out with those). I also missed the washer/dryer and the garage door opener. The weather was perfect so it wasn't a problem not having the A/C on.

The things I liked about the experience was having minimal computer time which meant maximum time doing things instead of researching how other people do things. I also enjoyed running out of light at the end of the day and being fored to stop and go to bed. I think we're going to keep this going as much as possible.

Lessons I learned from this experiment. The first lesson was how important Sabbath Days are. You are probably wondering how that connects in with the no electricity. We were going to start this first thing Monday morning. Since there would be no washer/dryer or vacuum I wanted to get that done for the week. I didn't get it done on Saturday so I was trying to do it after church on Sunday. These are activities I avoid doing on Sundays. After yelling at the 3rd child of mine in a row over things very trivial, I realized I wasn't getting that 'Sabbath Day Peace' that I so desperately need every week and it was affecting me in a very negative way. I said, "That's it!" I called Bruce at work just to double check with him if it was ok that we start at noon and I do these work day chores Monday morning. Of course he agreed, and I was much happier. I'm so thankful that Heavenly Father knows us well enough to give us commandments to rest and take care of ourselves because we really wouldn't do that on our own - He's so awesome!

The second lesson I learned is how adaptable my kids are and how positive they look at things and new adventures like this. They jumped into this adventure full of enthusiasm. There was no complaining, no trying to get out of it - nothing! They are such awesome kids, I love them to pieces.

The 3rd lesson was what an inspired man I am married to. He is so busy with his work and yet he makes us a priority even when he is going on minimal sleep. He does those things he should so that he can be inspired on what our family needs. This experience has definitely brought us closer as a family and we are more grateful for those things that we need.

The 4th lesson is that I am so wasteful!!!! I know that America is one of the most wasteful countries in the world and I've always tried hard not to fit into that mold. I guess compared with the 'average American' we're not that wasteful - I get creative with leftovers, we save and use hand-me-downs, we recycle, we use scrap paper as much as we can for school and other activities, I buy second hand for as many things as possible, etc. I realized I can get by with a lot less electricity just on a day to day basis and do it comfortably. Most of the time when I use more its because I'm being lazy, doing something that is wasting my time or helping promote a not so healthy lifestyle (like losing precious sleep by vegging in front of a TV or computer). This made me look at other areas of my life and see the many, many different ways I am wasteful. My spending, items I throw out or recycle that I could use for other things, other utilities besides electricity, my time, etc. Then as I would think of ways to do better, my eyes would be opened to even more areas - I have a long way to go, but I'm excited about getting there.

The 5th lesson: Heavenly Father has blessed us with so many things to do and have and see that we don't have to pay for. There is a book title I love (I need to read the actual book to see if I like it as well) - You Can Never Have Enough of What You Don't Need. I could see plain and clear this week how that phrase is so true. I never seem to have enough time to get my 'computer work' done. With it being limited this week, I was able to get what was essential done and have more time with my kids.

The last lesson. When others heard about our experiment the first question we would get pertained to finding out if we were really ready for emergencies. Truthfully, that idea never even popped into our heads when we were planning it - it was all on saving money :) Luckily, people did ask that question so I kept my eyes open in that area, and we do have some areas we could do better at to make an emergency a little more comfortable. I think we would 'survive', but maye not that happily :)

Some of the things we're going to keep in place is having limited computer time (more than an hour, but still limited), keeping the lights off at night, so we run out of light and we're even considering having one day a week with no electricity every week. We may change our minds on that on the sweltering summer days or extremely freezing winter nights - but we'll see. It just leaves more adventures for the future!

So to answer the question - lights or no lights? I would have to side towards the no lights! You should try it!