One Year Later

It was a year ago yesterday that Hurricane Dolly blew in upon us with her not-too-friendly "Hello!" And it was one year ago today that we awoke to water coming in around the foundation of our home. That day saw us journey from frantic, frenetic activity in attempting to salvage our home and its belongings to quiet, exhausted acceptance of its loss. You can read more of the details in two former blogs, And the Waters Came and Then Came the Angels.

Today we find ourselves comfortably settled back in Iowa, surrounded by family whom we are enjoying immensely. As I have written so many times previously, the blessing of being with loved ones can only be appreciated by those who have been apart from them for a significant time. The opportunity that has been afforded us through this move can only be understood as a backhanded gift of a loving God.

As we have been approaching this anniversary of our water upheaval, I have vacillated between gratitude for the new life that we have been gifted with here in Iowa, and a renewed sense of loss for our South Texas home and life. Not that I want to go back. But this one-year time of recollection seems to be necessary to bring the past to some sort of closure.

In the midst of reflections on the past year, which in some respects has passed rather quickly, and in other ways seems to have been eons long, God seems to be moving again. We are investigating a move to a rental home out in the country. The possibility of enjoying the beauty of nature and the privacy of the country tugs at us very strongly. God seems to be opening a door in that direction. We will see where it leads. Stay tuned.

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.

And the Waters Came

On our morning Bible study call yesterday, Marilyn asked if I had ever shared on my blog the story of the hurricane/flood that brought us to Iowa. Since I have only referred to it briefly in several writings, she encouraged me to "tell the whole story". So, here goes!

When My Love and I moved to South Texas in 1996, we went house hunting with a realtor. After viewing about a dozen different places, we found exactly what we desired. It was a brick ranch style home with eight acres surrounding and lots of large trees, including many fruit trees. This was our ranchito and we settled in very quickly and comfortably.

Over the ensuing years, we slowly made it our own, adding an outdoor jacuzzi in 2000, a shop/garage in 2001, dogs and cats, and planting additional trees and desert plants. Our adaptations culminated in the summer of 2006 with a major remodeling project in which we totally gutted the interior, added an attached garage, put on a new metal roof, new windows, and extended the kitchen and office. Now it was everything that we wanted and desired it to be.

We enjoyed this small piece of paradise for two years. Then in July 2008, our lives took a sharp turn. On July 23, Hurricane Dolly struck the Texas Gulf Coast, coming ashore about 40 miles from us. During the night, the winds and rain pounded our area and the water began to rise. Unbeknown to us there was a break in an irrigation canal about 1/4 of a mile from our home. At 7:00 am on July 24, the water began to seep in around the foundation of our house. We started to put furniture up on blocks, on tables, desks and beds. The first thing to succumb to the water was our laminate wood flooring which we had installed throughout the home, which buckled up and floated away. By 1:30 pm, we accepted the reality that there was nothing we could do to save our house. The dirty water was now more than 12 inches deep throughout the whole structure and would remain so for more than a week.

In the moment that we accepted the actuality of the situation, My Love and I turned to each other and said: "It's time to go home to Iowa." We did not know how that would happen, but we knew in our hearts that that was where we belonged. God had closed the door on South Texas, but He had opened a window and we floated out. We were totally at peace with our situation, and with the decision that came with it.

Next: How that New Reality unfolded.

Routine, Rut or Grave?

When we lost our home in July, 2008, due to flooding from Hurricane Dolly, the pattern of our life was turned upside down. We had lived in our south Texas home for almost 12 years, and had just renovated the whole place 2 years before. We had totally remodeled it, putting on a new roof, new windows, gutting the interior, extending the kitchen and office, adding on an enclosed garage and in general making it just what we wanted it to be. We were comfortable and settled.

Following 12 inches of water throughout the house for one week, the new laminate wood flooring and all the walls were ruined. We decided to take this opportunity to move back to Iowa where both of our families are located so that we could be near them again. So we did, just in time for this cold and snowy winter.

Lately, I've been reflecting on the pattern that has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember.

First, there is newness, chaos, upheaval present which forces me to be "on the edge of my seat" both spiritually and psychologically. At this time I am most open to the Spirit of God, and most willing to move in any new direction that that Spirit seems to be leading. This is always an exciting and very growth-producing period.

Then, as I begin to settle into the new situation and circumstances, I develop a routine to better manage and deal with the ordinary happenings of each day. This routine frees up energies from the mundane tasks for the growth opportunities that life presents. For example, if I don't have to expend energy on finding my clothes, brushing my teeth or locating my files in my office (because all these things are now routine), then I can put my energy into learning the nuances of the new job that I have begun or building new relationships or whatever the day-to-day happenings present. Routines can be very beneficial.

However, the third stage in this progression slowly insinuates itself. After a while, a routine can gradually transform itself into a rut. This rut then wears itself deeper and deeper into the fabric of life until there comes a point at which there is no longer any freedom for the Spirit to move. Herein lies the danger: the only difference between a rut and a grave is that the rut is still open on both ends. In other words, if a rut can be recognized for what it is, escape is possible. When it is not recognized, and continues, it can become a grave and kill the Spirit within.

Fortunately, in my life, God has never let me get to the grave stage before blasting me out of the rut. Sometimes it has taken a hurricane to get my attention. However, I have learned to welcome the chaos and upheaval as preludes to the growth and newness of life which is being offered. As I bring my energies to bear "on the edge of my seat", my sharpened focus leads me into the wonderful freedom, excitement and growth that God is holding out.

This pattern has repeated itself so many times in my life that it has become an old friend with whom I am very comfortable. I no longer get quite as upset or discouraged by the unexpected, the tumultuous or the tragic. They are merely the opportunities for new beginnings.

Where are you in your life at this point: "on the edge of your seat", in a routine, a rut or a grave?