In the Water

We've had an eventful weekend.  Last night we had to call our insurance company and initiate a auto claim and a homeowner's claim.  You never want to have to do either.  You certainly never want to do both in the same day!

Due to the winter storms we have had recently, our roof has built up a lot of snow and ice.  The weather has finally warmed up a bit, and all of that ice and snow has no place to go.  Well, I take that back, it found two places...the inside of our living room and the top of our van.  The roof of the van is caved in, the windshield is shattered, there is body damage.  There is brown water leaking down from the second story roof, behind the siding and constantly dripping down the living room wall onto the floor and dripping from the ceiling.  At one point, we had 7 buckets on the foor to catch all the leaks.

My mind is overcome with the details, the loss of transportation, the deductibles, you know, all that STUFF.  In my stress today, my husband reminded me of that.  "Bec, it's just stuff." 

And thankfully, STUFF is all that was damaged.  If that ice had fallen a little while earlier, my family could have been in that van as it was crunched.  My kids could have been in the driveway.  Instead, they were nestled safely in their beds.  Ben was outside at the time, he could have been hit by the huge chunks of ice (some of the chunks on the ground after impact are still 2 feet wide and several inches thick) falling from the second story roof had he been on that side of the house at that moment.  God has perfect timing, doesn't He?  His protection is wonderful.

I had an opportunity this morning to discuss that with the kids.  Our Bible lesson was on the account of the Israelites crossing the Jordan River. 

"So when the people set out from their tents to pass over the Jordan with the priests bearing the ark of the covenant before the people, and as soon as those bearing the ark had come as far as the Jordan, and the feet of the priests bearing the ark were dipped in the brink of the water (now the Jordan overflows all its banks throughout the time of harvest), the waters coming down from above stood and rose up in a heap very far away, at Adam, the city that is beside Zarethan, and those flowing down toward the Sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea, were completely cut off. And the people passed over opposite Jericho. Now the priests bearing the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood firmly on dry ground in the midst of the Jordan, and all Israel was passing over on dry ground until all the nation finished passing over the Jordan."  Joshua 3:14-17

I immediately thought of the faith that Joshua and the priests had.  I know too often when I come to flooding rivers (or living rooms) in my life, that I want to stand on the banks and wait for God to do a miracle.  But what does God want me to do?  What does faith look like?  It's putting my feet in the water and watching from there as God holds back the waters and makes a clear path for me.  I don't know how much the boys got out of class this morning, but I know that that 1st grade Bible class was what I needed to hear.  What does putting my feet in the water mean in this circumstance we find ourselves in?  So far, I've come up with...not worrying (hard for me!), praying instead of stressing, trusting God will take care of us, doing the painful part of getting the quotes even though we don't know how we'll pay for the deductible, choosing to see that God has allowed this for a reason, rather than grumbling and complaining, and probably most important, showing our boys that in the seasons when the rivers in our life are flooding, that we put one foot in front of the other, not looking back and wishing for the "comfortable" path we were just on, but trusting that what is on the other side of the river is soooo much better than where we've just been wandering.  God doesn't promise to create bridges over the rivers.  That would appeal to us, wouldn't it?...Just keep us out of the water altoghether.  But, God does promise to not let the waves overtake us as we walk through the rivers. And you know, if we never get our feet wet, how will we ever appreciate dry ground?  We have to do what those priests did, put our feet in the water, so our children can watch God do something wondrous.

After the Israelites all crossed safely, they took stones from the Jordan and made a pile.  That would serve as a rememberance for them, especially the children, of what wondrous thing the Lord had done for them that day.  We had the chance to talk about what happened to our van just outside the walls of our home yesterday, how God protected each of us, and what a wonderful thing that was.  And then we talked about how can we remember that.  One way is to thank Him.  It's harder to forget something we are busy thanking God for.  We can journal it, and draw a picture of it.  (This is something Evan is going to do in class.)  And we can tell others.  So, I am telling you.  Even though we are in the midst of a minor life trial (so many people are dealing with worse!), God has been wondrously gracious to us, and I am confident He will give us something better on the banks on the other side of the river.  And we will remember.