Yes, But I Still Don't Pray For Rain

It has been over a month since I last made an entry into this blog. I have gone longer I think in months past, but over the past several months I've been keeping fairly consistent as to regularity of stopping by.  The reasons for the longer time are several.  One is that over the past week or so I've had a really nasty cold. It's one of those colds that are more than sneezing, and coughing, but was accompanied by fever, aches, weariness, loss of appetite.....etc.  No doubt you have been there.  Gratefully, I'm feeling much better, although not fully back to my usual speed.

Another reason is that about a month ago during a rainstorm the power went out in our area, and for about three hours the sub pump stopped working.  And the rain poured down.  It was a rainstorm that had lasted all that day, adding much water to an already saturated ground and water table.  Usually for us a three hour power outage is not a problem, we've gone much longer without power and experienced no flooding. But in this heavy storm, the saturated soil, and no pump to keep the water out, we soon had around 8 inches of water in our basement when the power was restored. The next several days were devoted to drying out and cleaning up, going through our stuff, saving what we could, drying what we could, and tossing what we had to toss. 

One of my co Chaplains with whom I serve in an Assisted Living Facility, had also taken a trip to Israel, and some of her responsibilities fell to me for two weeks until she returned. Add these things to my normal duties, and you have a pretty full plate for a few weeks anyway. So getting here to write a little in this blog, didn't feel like a real pressing priority.

Yet, I have to admit there are some positives that have come from these things that I want to share briefly.

The extra chaplain duties allowed me to be called upon by the director to introduce the ministry to people considering their parents moving in.  I explained the nature and benefits, and goals of the Chaplain ministry to a concerned family.  The result was that they were comforted knowing that a Bible based ministry was part of the culture of the facility and was a big factor in their decision to move their parents in.

As for the flooded basement, the furnace and the hot water heater were not damaged. The water heater had to dry out for almost two days, but it did dry, and I was able to relight it and it's working fine now.  The damage to our personal stuff was not real bad, limited to some good books I had on some lower shelves, but most of the books were very old and outdated, which I would not re-read or consult for research anyway.  Some of our sons' school projects and awards they earned through the years were damaged also.  We feel bad about those, but were able to save much of those things as well.
The good books lost are already on my wish list at CBD, so they'll be back soon, Lord willing.  But it also made my wife and I do what we needed to do for many years now which was to really go through our basement and organize, pitch and save. We did, and I can say we cleaned it up and created more space and are much "lighter" that we have been for some time. That really is a positive.

As far as being sick for several days, even that has some things I can count as good coming out of bad.  First, it made me rest. I slept more in the past several days than I have in some time. My body needed rest not just because of an illness, but the illness highlighted the need for rest that was already there.  I was surprised at the hours I slept.
The lack of appetite helped me put a self imposed diet on how I would eat.  I didn't want to eat but knew I had to, so  I focused on more healthy foods much more than I usually do, and am continuing that focus although I am coming back to health. I also notice that when I put my pants on I have a little more room around my middle, and when I checked my weight I had lost a few pounds. That is definitely worth writing about, for me anyway.

So, the point today is that yes, water in the basement is a pain, extra duties can be as well, and we all try to avoid being sick.  But in  trials small or great God is still working. He still causes all things to work together for the good of those who love Him.  We on our part, just have to carry on by faith in His goodness.  We trust that He knows all about our situations, and will bring us through in triumph and for His glory.