Then Came the Angels

Part 2 of the story (at Marilyn's request) of the hurricane/flood that brought us to Iowa. For Part 1 see And the Waters Came.

Although a deep peace settled in our hearts with the decision to uproot our lives and move back to our home area in Iowa, we were faced with the reality of dealing with a home and property buried under several feet of filthy water. From the very beginning God sent hovering angels to assist, encourage and uplift us.

First there was our neighbor, Beno, across the road. When Janella stopped there to ask if she could park our car in front of their house because we could not drive in and out of our property, he not only agreed, but went on to say that he had an empty apartment available right there where we could stay. This would also provide us with a handy location to store any of our things as we moved them out of the inundated house. The apartment even had a refrigerator/freezer included.

We began late Thursday afternoon floating things out to the road in three large, plastic garbage cans that we had in our garage. We started with all our food items from our refrigerator and freezer. After floating them out to the road, we loaded them onto our pickup, which we had fortunately driven out of the yard before the water made that impossible. Then, we drove across the road where we unloaded into the apartment. This was to be our pattern, with some adaptations for the next two days.

On one of these journeys late Thursday, as we were attempting to lift the garbage cans onto the pickup, another pickup stopped behind us. Three big, burly guys got out, came over, and asked if there was anything they could do to help. They were oil rig workers who were on their way to check on a well nearby. (So they said! We know they were really angels!) We told them that we would really appreciate their assistance in hauling a mattress from one of our beds to the apartment across the street so that we would have a place to sleep that night. They proceeded to follow us up to the house where we showed them one of the mattresses that was not yet soaked. They picked it up with no problem and delivered to our temporary haven.

The next morning we called our friends, Chuck and Lou, to ask if they could come with their sons, Jose and Dan, to help us. They became our archangels. They arrived with a friend of theirs and began organizing the move of all our salvageable belongings. They stayed with us throughout Friday and Saturday as they oversaw the transfer of our life from one side of the road to the other. At one point, Chuck commented to me: "You know, everything you move out of here, you will have to move back in." My response was: "Not if we don't move back in."

Throughout Friday, many people (angels) stopped along the road and asked if they could help. At one point we had 12 people assisting us, most of whom we did not know. One man who was helping, asked us, in Spanish, if it would help if he went home and got his small fishing boat. Then we could load things on the boat and pull it out to the trucks that we were loading on the road. He brought the boat, and we used it until Sunday. By Saturday evening, we had everything worth salvaging out of the house and across the street in the apartment.

It was late Friday afternoon when Lou invited us to stay with them in their home as long as necessary. It was like a light in the darkness because I don't know how we would have been able to survive if we had stayed in the small apartment, faced with the piles of our stuff that had been placed all over. We accepted their hospitality, which allowed us not only to enjoy the comfort of their home and a bit of normalcy, but also to share faith as we moved through this experience.

The following week was spent going through things in the apartment, deciding what we wanted to keep and take with us, and what we wanted to let go of. We planned and held a yard sale the following Friday and Saturday, right out in front of the apartment on the main highway that passed by. During that yard sale, we were assisted by two more angels, Judy and Phil, our friends.

Meanwhile, My Love had talked with her sister, Annette, in Iowa and asked her to look for a place for us to rent. She was another angel as she spent several days running around, talking with realtors, and scouring ads. But she was also a successful angel for she found the wonderful two-bedroom apartment that we are now renting, at a very reasonable and affordable price.

At the same time that all the packing and sorting was being done, we were busy deciding what to do with our home and property. We met with two friends who were involved in real estate, investments and financial planning. One of them, Rudy, had just been brought into our lives about six months before. He turned out to be another angel. He knew someone, Algis, who was a contractor who was looking for a property like ours. On the following Sunday, we met with Algis and his expectant wife, Daniela, in our water-soaked house. She immediately fell in love with the home. He fell in love with my shop. So, through Rudy, an arrangement was reached whereby Algis would fix up the house and move into it. With this arrangement, we were able to leave with a peaceful and joyful heart knowing that someone else would be enjoying our home as much as we did.

With that taken care of, we then proceeded to rent a U-haul truck which we loaded with all the remaining articles of our life together. Finally, on Wednesday afternoon, August 6, we began our trek north with our little caravan of truck pulling a car carrier followed by My Love in our car. On the car carrier was our pickup filled with stuff, as was the car following. We proceeded as far as Denton, TX, that night where we slept for a few hours. Rising early, we journeyed on, arriving in Cherokee, Iowa Thursday evening about 8:30 pm.

Friday we spent looking at the new apartment, and getting ready to move in. On Saturday, another flock of angels arrived to help unload the truck and move our furniture and other things into the house. The 10 or so relatives and friends did not have an easy task of it, for our apartment is up a flight of 23 stairs on the second floor. Yet they were real troopers and got the job accomplished that day.

The final touch of God's love came through several angels who sent us gifts of money to help with our expenses of moving. When we totalled it all up, it covered exactly the expense of the u-haul rental, the gas driving up, the cost of the motel and the meals on the way. Is God wonderful, or what?

As I reflect back over this experience, I am overwhelmed at the over-arching love, care and providential direction of God which was so present through the people put in our path. Never for a moment were we allowed to forget Who was behind and throughout this movement. Never could we fail to remember the existence of angels who come when we need them.