Riding out the storm

Life is full of storms. Literal storms (like Hurricane Harvey) and personal/emotional ones.

Reflecting on the past few years, my husband and I, along with our children, have faced some personal storms that were devastating. We have had financial struggles, the loss of a child, the transition to new jobs (both of us). But through it all, we have been together. We have stood side by side, we have knelt together in prayer.

The rain is not letting up. It keeps coming, and every time I get back online, I see post from more friends who have lost belongings, some have 6 or more inches of water in their house. I saw a video of a dear friend and her family being evacuated from their home by boat.

Our house has not been the dream we envisioned 5 years ago when we bought it. We thought within a year or so we would renovate and upgrade and have a great starter home. Five years in and we have painted. That is about it. Due to the economy and many unforeseen experiences we haven't done much but maintain our house. And many of the unforeseen events were related to our house: foundation repairs, water heater going out, a/c going out, etc. Our dream starter turned out to be a lemon.

Right now though, I am thankful for this lemon. We haven't flooded at all. Our house seems to be in a great spot. I give glory to God. We have struggled with this house, my husband did not want to buy it, I was half way through my pregnancy with Abigail and was tired of looking - so we settled. And we have felt the burden of it.Even with settling though we decided to dream and make this home ours. We have, but not nearly as much as we had hoped.

But right now, I am very grateful for what we do have.

A home.
That is dry.
Power that is on
Food in the pantry.
And each other.