The latest "adventure."

It's a wonderful life, and often it seems like a roller coaster! I marvel at all the experiences we have had in such a short amount of time of being on this earth. I view each as an example to experience God's grace, mercy, love, and help in new ways.

The latest adventure, boys and girls, came to us in the form of a flood. Not the monumental proportions of the like we have seen in other countries across the world, but in the form of an inside flood. It began last Sunday afternoon as we returned home after an interesting 24 hours previous. The night before, Luke had been diagnosed with an ear infection, my father in law had been rushed to the ER by ambulance, and the crock pot that I needed to cook 20 lbs of ground beef in for a staff meeting at church decided to take its last breath. So imagine my surprise to come home, approach my front door, and see water coming out. "That's strange," Dave and I thought. Ha!

Then we opened the front door. At first when I saw all the water, my first thought was "Grab the towels!!! Lots and lots of towels." But as I walked further down the hall, it occured to me that this was WAY beyond the help of towels. Our toilet down at the end of the hall had been continually overflowing for what we think was about 7 hours straight. The water traveled into each room of the house, from one end to the other. The carpet was saturated the likes of walking on a sopping wet towel. I have to admit it was quite an interesting feeling on my toes. It made a nice squishing noise. Just a little weird that it was the carpeting in my house. Yeah.

So after the moments of panic diminished, we set to work. Dave got out his trusty Shop-Vac and began vacuuming up water. I called the homeowners insurance company. And within a couple of hours, the Service Master people were here setting up the fans. By the next day, my house turned from bad to worse, and they began to completely tear everything apart! I did enjoy teasing the workmen about getting water, mud and scratches on my wood floor. The joke is old now, though. Bummer.

We are starting to realize the extent of the damage. We have officially moved in to the trailer in the driveway, which we are so thankful for! It allows us to be here on the property while they work to answer questions, and also gives us the ability to still be able to prepare all our food. We may avail ourselves to a hotel somewhere in the midst of this, since the insurance company will pay for that. Who couldn't use a little swimming and a nice hot tub during a stressful thing like this?

So come along on this journey with us! I will try and post pictures of the progress. By the end of this week, we are hoping to know exactly what work will need to be done, and therefore be able to hopefully have a time frame as to how long it will all take. I told the kids that I would be surprised if it was done by Christmas!! It is exciting to see what blessings God is supplying us already through the prayers of so many of our friends, meals, etc. And the blessing of a freshly surfaced home! At this point, we know we will be getting new carpet, new hardwood flooring, new bathroom cabinets, a new armoire for the living room, and fresh paint throughout! Wow!!!! So fun!!!! God is so very good in all of this.