If I would have known...

... that we'd have so many housing issues in our short 10 years of marriage, I would have started a label devoted to just that! For those of you who know about our past wknd (2 wknds ago), I didn't want to disappoint you by not posting pics. I will try to spare most details... but first, a recap on the past few years. Let's start here...
1. Henry shoved a whole roll of TP in the toilet... overflowed to our basement an hour before we had a house showing....
2. And then the wind storm right after we moved -this post doesn't tell the whole story. Later that day, about 20 shingles came right off our roof. We had only lived in that house for 2 months -- insurance claim #1
3. A lovely Christmas gift in Dec of 2008 - just 5 months of being in this house. We arrived home with sleeping kids at 11pm after driving 16hours straight home from Florida... insurance claim #2
4. In between our coffee maker breaking (which seems catastrophic) and the garage door breaking, we had a minor reprieve before this... an incredibly windy day pulled siding off the side of our house... insurance claim #3
5. Our insurance company dropped us...
6. Five days after our new insurance company picked us up -- the lovely pictures below tell a new story.

The first picture says it all. We were out-of-town at a family's home for dinner for the whole evening (left the house at 4pm, didn't return until 11pm). We arrive home to water standing on the kitchen floor and a strange spraying sound... We've had our fair share of water issues, so when you come home and see water on the floor, you know it is not good. Jonathan was amazingly calm... the kids were all sleeping in the car. He flies through the hallway and says... "water, water in the kitchen." I didn't think much until I noticed my flip flops wet. A water line in our fridge had popped a hole. Sprayed all evening long... and the best part was that it leaked all down into the ceiling of our newly finished basement. (Nathan, if you're reading this, sorry... ). Dripping... dripping... dripping. We put the kids to bed, called the Berry's (which is what we ALWAYS do when we encounter anything exciting... especially emergencies!), Beth comes over at about midnight, and the cutting begins. LONG story short, we had to turn the water off to the whole house, and then it wouldn't come back on, 3am and we had to get the boys out of bed to go stay at the Berry's... insurance claim #4... we're hoping for a happy ending... we had huge fans and dehumidifiers in our kitchen and basement from the drying service for 6 days... kitchen floor ripped up and holes in our basement ceiling. Ahh... breathe... school starts in 2 weeks... To be continued...

To top it off, our computer had a virus and we had to do a 'hard reset' on it. Not sure if that is the 'techy' term, but to me it means another headache! Even though we had things backed up to an external drive, we are missing many things including my contacts, my bookmarks, my task list, my calendar, the past year of my Quicken backup and the worst one is our past 6 months of pictures. It really is so depressing when I think of it all only from an earthly perspective. I have found myself praying much for patience in these past weeks. I continually remind myself that God IS in control over these large (heavenly small) earthly matters... He cares, He's interested, He's allowing it to happen for my good and His glory. Can a computer crash be for His glory? Can a ruined kitchen floor and holes in the basement be for His glory? Can a newborn baby with down syndrome be for his glory? Yes, yes, yes... And it's all for our good if we are indeed His. That is what amazes me... He glorifies Himself through all this by growing us through these tough times. We learn that His grace is sufficient... that He doesn't ask us to do anything beyond what we are able... and He will supply the strength. But how does He supply the strength? I had always hoped it'd be in the form of more sleep, or more muscle, or more time... but typically, it doesn't work that way. I'm still learning... but remember the gospel, Michelle! Remembering what Christ has done on the cross, remembering I have the Holy Spirit in me helping me to obey even when it feels very difficult, giving me hope for the future, supplying patience with my husband and family, supplying love to those around me... As we gear up for another school year, we look at the mountain of Jonathan's job (which is complex on many levels) and we wonder, will we make it through the year in a way that is pleasing to Him? I think this is the first time in our marriage where we are confident that we are NOT confident in ourselves. There seems to be so many hurdles, and yet, we are both at peace with what God has given us and praying for Him to make Himself known to us now. I was reading in Psalm 119 today: Your Word, O Lord, is eternal; it stands firm in the heavens. Your faithfulness continues through all generations; you established the earth, and it endures. Your law endures to this day, for all things serve you. If your law had not been my delight, I would have perished in my affliction. I will never forget your precepts, for by them you have preserved my life... Your Word is a lamp for my feet and a light for my path...My heart is set on keeping your decrees to the very end." The Lord will ALWAYS sustain those who are His. We are praying that for this year!