1001 Gifts

Five years ago I read a book that changed my life.  One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp hit the best seller list.  But before that, I read this book not knowing the impact it would have.  The underlying principle I took was that God is good and gracious not because of what He does for us but because of who He is.  We need to thank Him because of the difficult times.

The past month has been one of our "difficult times."

As she does, here is a list of blessings in the midst of pain:

1. Monday our street was flooded when we woke up so Michael could not get to work.  He was not stuck at work and me at the house.
2. I married a man who is cautious.  When all others were enjoying the day off from school, we were preparing our home for a flood. (that did not occur for another 24+ hours)  
3. God gave my husband super-human strength to lift furniture (including a piano and even heavier buffet) up onto multiple cans by himself.  
4. Because of #2 and my previous couponing ways, we had lots cans around the house to serve as support for all the furniture--we did not lose anything!
5. My husband insisted on cutting lots of wood blocks on Monday.  How thankful I was on Tuesday!
6. He also insisted on bringing in cases of water from the garage.  Ditto.
7. The flood waters receded enough on Monday that our house was not flooded worse on Tuesday.  It also gave us time to prepare further for Tuesday.  
8. Our friend Steve who stayed up all night and called us early on Tuesday to tell us the flood waters were back up.  Those few hours helped save more furniture.
9. Our kids slept abnormally late on Tuesday morning.  Late enough to give us 2 extra hours working without little hands around.
10. We had power through it all.  Especially important when trying to dry out the house with a/c and fans and dehumidifiers in upcoming week.  
11. We also had internet the entire time.  Netflix became our salvation with the kids over the next few days.
12. We have a two-story house so we could put much upstairs and even live there safely with three little kids during flooded house.  
13. We have spare bedroom upstairs and a family area to even accommodate the upcoming weeks of disruption.  Did not need to pay for temporary housing.  
14. While we were flooded in, I struggled with the decision about whether to evacuate the kids and I or not.  God gave clear answer through friend who offered to bring his kayak if we needed to get out.  I was not stranded and could get out when needed in future.  Could delay that decision.
15. The water stopped rising 1/4" from bottom of cabinet decking.  This is the only reason we could avoid replacing all cabinets and likely the granite.
16. Both a/c units (one of which electronics were under water) worked!
17. One by one we discovered that all appliances worked (except dishwasher which we had planned to replace within the month)--including garage fridge which had been under 12"+ of water.
18. Within hours of passable roads, we had several fellows from class over with supplies to help rip out wet carpet, baseboards, sheetrock, etc...
19. By the end of the week, we had 60+ people from both our church class and previous classes help in our home.  
20. God's love was shown so evidently through the love of His children.
21. I also learned such a living lesson on God's grace, unmerited favor--more on that later.
22. We asked a class member to help us return a floor scraper which weighed hundreds of pounds.  He showed up, and unbeknownst to me, he had a wench on his truck.  We could never have done without it!  (the scraper had been loaded by crane)
23. We did not have to cook dinner for 2 weeks.  People just stepped up to provide meals--not to mention a few since then.
24. We were offered countless houses to stay in during this time.
25. My sister offered the day after the flood to drive down and take us up to Sherman. My sister-in-law stepped in and offered to watch the kids every weekend.  My brother-in-law also came over one day and spent the entire day as a hired hand!  My other sister-in-law offered to watch kids in VA as long as we needed it.  
26. We had three couples offer dehumidifiers--a necessity for drying out!
27. A church friend, who I do not know well, felt prompted to offer me her homeschool curriculum.
28. A local storage unit that provided first month (plus 1 1/2 weeks) free!  Climate controlled.
29. I offered gas money to cover some driving expenses.  Later that day, God provided back the exact amount I gave as a love offering from some anonymous people.
30. A class member recommended a reputable GC who spent endless hours at our house the first two days giving free advice and help.
31. On other fronts, I contacted a second GC to come give an estimate.  Ryan had done work for us in the past.  In his generosity and kindness, he offered to give us his sub contractors names directly so we could save money.  This ended up saving us thousands!
32. As time went on, we were given many options for contractors.  I was praying for clear open/shut doors.  Many we ruled out immediately.  One, walked in the door and immediately walked out refusing to give us an estimate because we had gotten an estimate from him 6 months ago and didn't use him.  Definitely a God thing.
33. I had narrowed it down to 3 options.  I was torn.  Out of the blue, Ryan called me (he is busy and hard to get a hold of, but he called me unprompted, except by God). We spoke at length.  Felt after getting off the phone that God had directly given me an answer. 
34. While sorting through our contractor options, we kept coming up against dead-ends for the trim.  I asked the sheetrocker if he knew a good carpenter.  I had felt challenged by God to trust Him to go ahead (#25) with sheetrocker despite missing the final piece in the puzzle (the carpenter).  I postponed that decision and finally half-heartedly contacted the sheetrocker about starting.  God provided a carpenter and encouragement in a supernatural way.  The minute I contacted the sheetrocker, he texted me back and asked if the carpenter had contacted me yet.  What carpenter?  Did he have my number?  At that very instant, the phone rang.  The carpenter!
35. Our friend Mike who provided not only good advice for putting house back together but Christian friendship and a meal for all 5 of us.
36. In midst of all this, AT&T changed our home number.  Last time this happened, it took 1 month to get sorted out.  This time, we got our phone number back within 1 day.  
37. One of the times while on the phone with AT&T for 1 1/2 hours, the kids sat in bed and read.  They NEVER do that!
38. Friend encouraged me to apply for FEMA early.  I did...within half an hour of being declared State of Emergency.  Was told they only cover safety related things and since sheetrock is not a safety related thing, likely would not get much.  I am not sure what happened, but God moved in their hearts and they provided abundantly!
39. We were told two of the three cars would be totaled and the third is the lowest and took on a lot of water too.  My car was the biggest deal since it is the only family car we have.  Insurance ended up paying to fix my car less the $500 deductible!
40. The mechanic kindly offered to bring me my car from the shop so Michael did not have to take off from work and I did not have to bring the three kids with me to the shop.
41. Michael's daily driver was total lossed but they gave us more than we expected.
42. Our third car, amazingly, was able to be fixed pretty quickly too.  We were not authorized for a car rental on it.  But meanwhile, insurance agreed to extend our car rental on the total loss car long enough to cover until we got our third car back.  No lag!
43. Adventures in Odyssey has helped pass hours with kids upstairs.  
44. I purchased the trim and once it arrived, I was very concerned because one of the trims was not close enough to our current trim profile and it was supposed to butt up against a lot of old trim.  I was able to find a closer match through a place that sells to the public.  And the trim was about $25 cheaper!
45. While our front sprinklers stopped working after the flood, we have not needed to use them because it has rained consistently since.
46. Rain came strong and long 6 weeks after flood.  Our streets began to flood.  Within hours, I had received a phone call or text from many friends!
47. God calmed the storm and even sent sunshine the following day.  The water was so high 30 hours later we were still pending a flood.  Had God not provided a full day of sunshine, I highly suspect we would have flooded again.
48. The sunshine immensely cheered my spirits.
49. Carpenter sprang leaks in 6 rooms in the house while nailing baseboard.  He knew where the water shut-off was and immediately turned it off.  While there was 6-7 gallons of water vacuumed off the floors, there was not far worse damage from the gushing water.  
50. He is friends with the sheetrocker so he called his buddy to come back and patch the holes.
51. Michael was home the day this happened so he could deal with it!
52. Prayer of the saints on our behalf!
53. Week of painting that house did not flood again!!!
54. God changing weather forecast--often only 30 mins-an hour before predicted weather.
55. A day of rest due to potential flooding during painting project.  
56. Nelson volunteering to paint doors and surprised us with front door restained (all out of his scope at no charge).
57. The time frame of everything has worked out perfectly!  I could not have planned better as a GC, but instead it just fell this way--Nelson painted enamel on a Friday night.  We were able to be out of the house Friday and Saturday and return that evening.  We were gone again for church on Sunday so in total did not have to breathe lacquer and enamel heavily until days later. And paint had time to dry before he returned on Monday.
58. Friends who offered to let us stay at their house while they painted enamel!  
59. See #53 --so since we were there Saturday, husband was able to be home and we got to hang out with both he and wife.  
60. The whole casserole dish of food they sent home with us!
61. Flooring schedule needed one day to float floors and then time to dry before lay floors.  Painter told me to have flooring come in on Friday.  God orchestrated timing again!
62. Ryan showing up to return unused trim for me.
63. Dishwasher did not show up until painters almost done.
64. Lost power 3 times in 2 days.  Twice it was at night!  Once only when painters were here.  Sheetrock, Carpenters, Flooring all needed power.  Painters did not.  
65. See #64  Windows that open.  Power out at night-- quite cool outside.  
66. I had prayed that no one in the family would get sick until we had our dishwasher again.  Sharing utensils would have quickly circulated the sickness around.  Abigail complained about a cough the very morning our dishwasher went in...by that evening, she definitely had a cold. No one had shown any signs of sickness in the 8 weeks previous.  
67. Due to significant stress over the past 8 weeks, my hair hardly grew at all.  I went to the hairdress today because I knew I was at least 8 weeks since but even she commented unprompted on the fact that it was a lot shorter than normal after such a period of time.  Did not have to worry about that during flood details.  
68. Trim came in less expensive than estimated.
69. Floors had hollow spots all over.  But we purchased distressed wood so epoxy filled wood holes are hardly noticeable.
70. Grout that I couldn't match, matched well.
71. Uhaul miraculously found truck nearby for at least 6.5 hours on very busy Saturday (after telling me no truck available within 50 mile radius)
72. We had so many problems with Uhaul's customer service that we not only got a full refund, but they ended up paying us $50 to rent the truck!
73. Front door handleset broke.  Door holes are not standard size.  After 5+ hours of research, there was not a single handleset that fit.  Could not do wood plate due to depth.  Pursuing all options--even down to buying new door.  God provided ONE handleset (first choice in looks actually) that could be jerryrigged to fit front door and work with old holes.  Amazing!  
74. The front door back knob was an exact match to our current knobs!
75. The ingenuity of our flooring guy when we ran into major problems installing wood on stairs.
76. A very soft reminder to be merciful because God has been so merciful to us.  
77. Above all, God's Mercy and Grace to us as displayed in so many more than the 76 ways above...He has lavished His Goodness on us...that we in turn may show others His Goodness.