Wow I can't believe it has really been since February since I have posted. Things have been crazy around here, and everytime I would start thinking to myself okay I've got the hang of this now, we would have a day that would absolutely bring me back to my knees humbling me and reminding me of my need of God's grace. I think so often with Maddie mothering came naturally to me, and so I thought I could pretty much handle things on my own. Nothing like throwing another child into the mix, adding a little sleep deprivation and a two year old who is struggling to grasp life with a sibling to see how sinful I really am. I think I have been broken by not being able to meet my own expectations for what I can get accomplished, which is exactly where God wanted me for me to be reminded I am not in control no matter how hard I try.
As if things weren't already crazy enough, why not throw a once in every 500 years flood into the mix. I should have known from the time I first saw the sump pump in this house and my husband reassured me it was no big deal, he would be out of town EVERY time it flooded! I had had a rough few weeks where I just felt like there was no way I was ever going to be able to keep it all together (or even get it together in the first place!), and Chris had just left to go on a bachelor's trip. I was standing in the kitchen with my two girls thinking how am I going to make it through this weekend (or at least until the next night when my mom got back from the beach) and the Mark Schultz song Closer Than I've Ever Been came on on my iPod, and it brought me to tears. I had been trying to do it on my own, depending on my own strength, and as I heard the lyrics "yeah, let me fall down at Your feet, feel Your presence all around me, don't let go until I'm closer, closer than I've ever been...until I'm weak enough to seek your strength," I realized God had had to bring me through those bad weeks to get it through to me that I had to be weak enough to seek his strength. And he was preparing me to depend solely on Him through the rest of the weekend. I had heard we were supposed to get bad weather that weekend, and I had seen the news on Saturday of the rising water in different parts of Nashville and people standing on top of their cars, but everything seemed to go back to normal within a few hours. Of course, our sump pump went out Saturday morning, but after a several calls to plumbers, I found someone who could come and replace our sump pump and by Saturday night our basement was free from standing water. I went to bed Saturday night to the sound of rain and the sump pump cutting on and off. Church had been canceled Sunday morning, so I had planned on a nice relaxing morning with my girls. I woke up at about 7 and figured I would go ahead and get up and make some coffee, so I would be ready to go when the girls woke up. And I remember thinking I better check the basement, I don't hear the sump pump, but really still thinking we are fine,we just got a new sump pump. Definitely not the case, there was several inches. I immediately called Chris' dad to see if he could come check to see if the sump pump was working, and thank the Lord I went ahead and called him right then. By the time he got to our house, we had several more inches. Everything was off of the basement floor several inches, but by this time, things were starting to get wet. So I started piling things up on top of each other (which of course only meant more things fell over into the water. Our washwer and dryer are on top of a platform, but water was getting to them. So I waded through my basement to get paint cans, many of which were floating at this point, and Woody and I got the washer and dryer on top of paint cans. At this point all I can think is Chris better hope none of his other friends get married for a long time, b/c he is not going on another bachelor's trip ever! Woody walked back over to lift the sump pump above the water, and I am trying to grab whatever I can and move it from a spot that I thought was safe and is now under to an even higher space. After and unsuccessful attempt to lift the washer and dryer onto two levels of paint cans, we called in reinforcements and had my brother and brother in law to help move the washer and dryer out of the basement and into the backyard into the rain. And believe it or not, they still work! Getting rained on was much better than sitting in 3 feet of water! At that point I gave up! Woody, Tee, and Tim stayed down there for a little while longer and fished my tupperwares full of Christmas decorations out of the water. I looked downstairs a little while later and our extra refrigerator was floating. All in all we came out okay, we had to get a new water heater and replace a circuit board on our AC unit. We lost some things, but nothing we couldn't live without. It has taken me two weeks just to regroup from our basement, I cannot imagine the people who lost their whole house. It is still surreal to drive around Nashville and you can see on shrubs how high the water was. Maddie's preschool was flooded and shut down until next year. There is a creek beside my mom's house and a tunnel that runs under the street, the 15 foot metal tube that support the road was pushed out into my mom's yard by the flood waters, the road above has completely collapsed. I hope to get pictures up in the next few days. You see pictures of floods on TV, but you can never understand how devastating it is until your see your city, your landmarks under water.
So the other reason we have been so busy is that Chris is starting a new job! Just another way the Lord has been so faithful. He has a wonderful opportunity to go in with two other guys and start a new healthcare company, Premise Health. Pretty much since Emalyn has been born (he literally got the phone call while we were still at the hospital), he has been working two jobs, just one more thing to add to the equation! He is so excited, and I am so proud of him! Okay, I have got to get some sleep. Hopefully I can find a few minutes tomorrow to post more about the girls.
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