Sunday, June 19, 2011 :: Fighting bigger battles

Wow, I forget how insanely hectic things get when things around here start "breaking loose", no pun intended.

First, flooding update...
1. River Stage is 25.39 feet and steadily climbing again. I've come to the conclusion that at this point, they really don't know how to predict river stage for the next few days accurately (taking into consideration a couple of recent levee breaks), so I'm  just going to leave it at "the river is rising significantly again."
2. Big Lake continues to fill very quickly, with the Highway to Rulo now being closed because of water over the road. It is also over the road north of the lake on 111--in fact I was down there this evening delivering meals and water, and you should have seen the FISH getting stuck in the middle of the highway. (Now there's a phrase I'll bet you don't see every day in a Google search....) Please, don't go out to look for yourself....sight-seers are really just getting in the way of people trying to move out and build more measures of protection. And things aren't exactly safe--an area farmer who's pretty much been in charge of organizing the sandbagging and levee-building efforts told me tonight that the levee break that occurred yesterday is now about 225 feet wide. THAT is why Big Lake is filling up fast.
3.  Dustin, and his dad and brother, have all been out with the dozers and excavator (I think) trying to build some more of those measures of protection just north of the lake. On very little sleep. Wondering how long we can all keep this up. And we're trying not to wish the summer was over already....
4. We (our house at least) are not in immediate danger. Yes, the levee broke by Big Lake, and they are getting flooded now, but there is another levee between us and them. Of course the water is now just that much closer, but no, we are not anticipating moving out anytime in the immediate future. Of course things do tend to change quickly around here, so I guess you never know.....

As for the kids and I, we went to church this morning because we love our church and I couldn't stand the thought of missing it...and the fact that we had nursery duty and I also just couldn't stand the thought of 10 little 1-year-olds wandering aimlessly around with no one to feed them goldfish crackers and keep them from drinking off of each others' sippy cups...no, that's not really what I was thinking. See, these are the kinds of things I write at the end of an exhausting week, concluding with a grand total of 4 hours of sleep in the last 48 hours....  Dustin was out the door again at 5:30am...yes, on just 2.5 hours of sleep...and was back out "saving the world" as my kids like to say. Otherwise he would have been going to church with us. Anyway, we have so many wonderful friends at church who love Jesus insanely and who will cut off their right arm to help you if you want them to. Many of them read this blog to keep updated on how they can help us and pray faithfully, and to each and every one of them, I say thank you. Truly. And to the rest of you who have offered help and  pray faithfully, I also say thank you. Truly. What a privilege it is to be included in your prayers. We do not take that lightly. And I believe as a result of your prayers, God has been laying a couple of things on my heart today, so if you can bear with me, I'd like to share a little of that tonight.

1. Please pray for our kids. They know Daddy and Mommy are stressed out. They know things are in turmoil, despite our efforts to keep things as normal as possible. They have been asked to sacrifice swimming to make and deliver sandwiches to sand-baggers. They have been told to sit in the car while Mommy checks on crews to see if anything is needed. They have been woke up too early and put to bed too late on too many occasions. They have been yelled at when Mommy loses patience because they don't understand the meaning of, "Hurry, we need to go help RIGHT NOW." And all of this is starting now to come out in their own behavior. <sigh> Parenting would be so much easier if I wanted to be a lousy parent.
2.  Pray for us to remain faithful and strong examples, especially to our kids. A week or two ago, Dustin was mourning the fact that this summer is going to end up being drastically different than how he had imagined. For one, he is we are teaching our 9-year-old and almost-7-year-old how to mow the yard this year. He was really looking forward to walking them thru every aspect of this job, but some of that has fallen to me with all of the other "excitement" this summer. I don't mind, he was just really looking forward to it. He said to me, "You know, you only get so much time with your kids to teach them things, and now I don't get to teach them anything this summer because this summer is SHOT." But you know, we actually have the opportunity to teach our kids more than we ever imagined this summer. We're going to teach them how to respond to a crisis, and (hopefully) be a servant within a crisis. And I've come to realize those words are so much easier to say than actually do. But it is the "actually doing" part that shows what you really believe. And who you really serve.
3. There is so much to be thankful for. People have been so wonderfully supportive. Every day we get phone calls asking what someone can do to help. We get offers to help us evacuate, places to stay, provision of meals, and taking care of our kids. Honestly, on a daily basis I get these calls.  And I'm so grateful, but also so undeserving. There are people we all know who are fighting battles much bigger than ours. There are people who are battling life-threatening diseases, and injuries. There are people who are dealing with life-altering loss. Our situation seems fairly small in comparison to these. SO, can I ask something of you?? If you have offered to help us in some way, but are growing impatient that we haven't called in the reinforcements yet, then do something THIS WEEK to help someone ELSE in need. Take a meal, send a note of encouragement, make a phone call. Mow someone else's yard, take care of someone else's kids. Go ahead, put it in your planner if you have to. But do something. Because as dramatic and "exciting" as our situation is, we all know someone else who could use a little extra boost this week. (And don't worry, we'll let you know when we need you, too.)