What a day!

This was a very strange day!  It started dark and early (as opposed to bright and early!) at 2:43am when I woke up hearing water running somewhere.  Thinking one of the kids must have gotten up and used the bathroom and left the sink water running (odd as that seemed) I got up to discover that the sound was actually water leaking downstairs in the bathroom - flooding the bathroom, kitchen, hallway and just about to reach the family room.  Lowell and I spent the next hour and a half doing what we could to get the water out and cleaned up before it spread further.  Then I went back to bed and he stayed up another hour finishing what he could.  (Turned out the problem was caused by a washer or something that slipped after Lowell replaced the float mechanism in the toilet last night.  Strange!)

Later in the morning we discovered that during a trip to Home Depot to fix the other problem somebody apparently backed into the back of our van leaving some sheetrock behind in our taillight and significantly denting the back hatch/door.  The whole back door/hatch will probably have to be replaced.  Wow.  Really???

What was amazing, though, was this:  it didn't get to us.  We praised God through it all and were legitimately thanking God for His mercy and grace.  Thankful...

1.  That our entire home wasn't washed away by a tsunami like so many families in Japan this week.
2.  That our entire home isn't filled with 2 feet of water and silt from an overflowed river like in Peru several years ago.
3.  That I woke up when I did (God must have done that!) so the water didn't spread further.
4.  That the water only reached a small amount of the carpet - most of it was under and on top of the hardwood floors.  Not great, but seem to be drying out faster than the carpet!
5.  For a beautiful day so we could have the doors wide open and not be freezing!
6.  That instead of obsessing about cleaning the house today (like I would have been doing if this hadn't happened) while Lowell took the boys to a monster truck jam rally thing, I enjoyed a nice afternoon playing games with Mikaela.
7.  That the back van door/hatch still opens and closes and seems to be the only part affected by the collision.
8.  That we have insurance!  Car and renter's.
9.  That we have a kind landlord who didn't panic.
10.  For people we could call on to pray for us.
11.  For a sense of humor.
12.  For freedom from self-pity and frustration and discouragement!
13.  For freedom to sing in the middle of the night instead of griping and blaming anybody.
14.  For good reasons to get some stuff cleaned up that we had been procrastinating about.
15.  That none of our belongings seem to be damaged.
16.  For a patient husband (who was still able to take the boys to the show.)
17.  For the clean bedroom I now have because I didn't want to be downstairs with all the fans.  : )
18.  That it was the bathroom downstairs instead of one of the ones upstairs!!!!!
19.  That it all seems to be drying out fairly well and will probably be fine without major repairs being needed.
20.  For Toby on his own joyfully saying that Satan didn't win today!  (Because we didn't let this ruin our day!)

After the sleep interruptions and listening to fans all day long, I feel like I have jet lag (the fans sound like propellers I think).  But I'm thankful for our church's women's retreat last weekend and the reminders I had fresh in my mind and heart to count it all joy and praise God through it all.  Even when things take a turn for the bizarre, HE IS STILL GOOD!!!  : )   Peace, indeed.

Day 4