Therapeutic weekend

I spent the weekend hanging out with two of my old high school friends. We made a pack two years ago to get together every year, so this was our second annual fling. I have been sooooo looking forward to it! I can only describe the weekend as therapeutic. There is something to be said about lifelong friends who you grew up with and know so much about. We are so far beyond the "superficial" conversations and thoughts about making a good impression or saying the right thing or wondering what they think about you. These are the friends that knew you when you went through the awkward years, and the many ups and downs of being a teenager, and they still choose to hang out with you! The conversations that we get to have now, a dozen plus years later, are so open and genuine and real. You get to talk about how life is "really" going without fear of being rejected or accused. Therapeutic is the best word my vocabulary has to describe the cherished time I get to spend with these ladies! Thanks gals! Love ya!

A little too close to home...

So, I've already been complaining about all of the rain we've had. No doubt you've heard in the national news about the major flooding in this part of the state. Things are really crazy. There are some areas that have had 8-12" of rain in the last week. We were kind of in our own little world, oblivious to the severity of the issue until Sunday morning. We went to church, only to find several dozen people gathered. The preacher was flooded out of town, and all but one of the musicians were also flooded out. That left us with a harmonica player and two singers. We learned that Columbus was virtually an island. There are numerous subdivisions, business areas, roads and interstates underwater. Columbus Regional Hospital had 12' (that is feet) of water in the basement, and had to evacuate all of the patients. (It may be months before they reopen.) There were several communities in Brown County that were totally flooded. Our local YMCA became a Red Cross shelter for the homeless. A friend from church lost everything in their home, and had to swim out of her house with her son and four dogs to safety. They were unable to get flood insurance, as their house is in the 100 year flood plain. (It's been nearly 100 years since the flooding was that bad.) It was quite overwhelming to hear of such devastation so close to home.

So, we're sitting in church singing "How Great Thou Art" with only a harmonica! It was beautiful! Before I knew it, tears just starting streaming down my face. It was just one of those moments when you are flooded with so many different emotions. The thought of the complete devastation all around, yet the notion that we still serve a great God who is all powerful!

In times of hardship, I guess you can either cling to God or turn your back. It was truly an amazing thing to see His church pull together and be His hands and feet in a hurting community.

Brown County drama...

If you know my family at all, you know that we are huge nature lovers! I just had to share this nature tale with you all. We've had a ton of rain in our area lately. All of the farm fields are totally flooded, and in many places the water is running over the back county roads and even the highways. So, my boys and were out and about yesterday, and decided to take the long way home. We were driving at a leisurely pace, noting all of the water everywhere. While slowing down to cross the water over the road we notice a very young fawn standing on the edge of the road. He couldn't have been more than a day or two old. He was wet as could be and shivering. We felt so bad for him. Our best guess is that the spot him momma had him hiding in got flooded, and he moved to the next driest area. That happened to be the road side.

A few miles later the boys spotted a deer swimming down one of the flooded fields. (My boys have X-ray eyes when it comes to spotting wildlife.) Not only was it a deer swimming down the field, but she had a small fawn following it. The fawn got caught in a current and was being swept down the field. Now, this isn't a stream; this is the middle of a corn field that happens to be seriously flooded and actually has a current of moving water. We had to stop and watch the drama unfold. The momma deer made it to a spot where the water wasn't so high, but by that time the little fawn was quite a distance from her. The little guy was swimming, but still being carried away. The momma finally went back out into the water and coaxed the fawn to follow her to drier ground. It was the most amazing thing! I just had to share! :)

My Greatest Fear

I see my last blog entry was about all of the rain we've been getting. Well, the rain hasn't slowed up. The last 24 hours have been quite stormy, complete with tornado warnings, sirens, power outages, etc... Just to preface this, my family and I are huge weather fanatics. So, I'm at work yesterday, my husband is out of town, and my two boys are home alone all day. (I hate leaving them home alone all day!!! Anyway!) I was online checking the weather and noticed a large band of storms coming. Being the "good" (maybe overprotective) mom, I called the boys to make sure they were inside and to let them know a storm was coming. Now I feel fine, until the storm starts rolling through my area. The big window in my office, shows the skies turning black, the rain pouring down, the electricity and telephones go out, and then the tornado sirens begin. We all have to shuffle down the hallways to an inside room, while we listen to the wind howl and reports of a tornado touching down. Just like someone flipping a switch, I get this horrible panic sense worrying about the boys home alone. The storm that we are experiencing would have just rolled through there area several minutes before. It was such a horrible feeling waiting to be dismissed from our secure area, until the time I could call the boys. Of course, they were find, but... It has always been my greatest fear that something would happen to one of the boys in my family and I wouldn't be there. Not that I would be able to do anything, but just the fact of being there would make me feel better. I guess it's the small notion that I am somehow in control of the situation. Although, when I watch these huge storms roll through, it is then that I realize how little control I really have, and the massive amount of power God has.