From Muddy Puddles to Streams of Living Water: Flooding

What a week it's been. And I can only praise the Lord that we have mostly good news to report. Our rivers have been VERY high this year, and many families outside Minot city limits have already been dealing with water and flooding issues for a while now but it got worse this past week. Monday Nathan got some work done on the house in the morning before it started pouring rain in the afternoon. We had heavy downpours and lightning and thunderstorms all afternoon and into the evening. Late Monday night we got a call from Nathan's boss, Al, who updated us on the river status in the city of Minot and reminded us that all our storage was in their shop basement and he wondered if we had considered moving any of it. To be honest the thought had never once crossed our minds since we had known things were beginning not to look good with the extra rain and river situation. So we went into the Paulson's house and decided that Nate and I and Bob and Trevor would head to the shop and try and move some of the more important items to the main floor. When we were headed into town we ran into a spot on the highway that was now completely covered in water. So we crawled through the water that had debree floating all around and it was pitch black outside. We made it to the shop and it was harder than I anticipated deciding what was really important and should be moved upstairs. We moved a few items when Bob got a call that their neighbor and friends of ours sandbag dike had broke and water was now rushing into their basement. We decided to leave the shop and pick up sandbags on our way back to their house. When we got to the area of road that was flooded they only let us pass because we had sandbags, it was too dark to see the road so you just hoped you were driving straight. We made it to their house by midnight and helped as much as we could. The next morning it was still raining and that's when we heard the news that Minot was being evacuated (10,000 residents) and the National Guard was being called in and the town was working feverishly to build up dikes all along the river and begin on secondary dikes. With that news Nathan, Bob and Trevor headed into town and moved all of our items in storage to the main floor. Also, our windows for our house were being stored at the shop and they were all moved to higher ground. A 12,000 $ investment that we were really hoping we didn't have to replace. (my windows are huge, you'll eventually see from pictures when they get put in the house) Wednesday Nathan and the crew went and filled sandbags and made barriers around the shop windows and doors and then we waited for news until Thursday when the river was suppose to crest. It was amazing to hear about all the people who helped fill sandbags and pull together to help out and do what we could. Thursday came with good news: the river had crested and it was lower than anticipated. Nathan and the crew had worked out of town that day and when he got home we decided to go on a date. It was eerie to see so many homes evacuated, and the National Guard directing traffic to let the trucks carrying sand for the dikes through the intersections as fast as possible and then to drive around the areas of town that were not in danger of flooding and seeing all the people who were probably staying with friends or family while they were not allowed in their own homes. It's hard to put into words, other than describing the facts of what was going on, of how it felt to be in a natural disaster. Very few areas in town flooded and there were reports of basements flooding due to water coming up through their pipes or the ground, overall the situation was far better than it could have been. But we are not out of the danger zone yet, the dikes are what are keeping the river in and it's HIGH and there is rain in the forecast, so we'll see what the future holds and we'll keep praying.
But we did want to share our MIRACLE from the Lord! We sold our house about 6 weeks ago, not knowing what the weather would hold. Our house we sold sat in one of the lowest areas in Minot and had to be evacuated. That house was over 100 years old and had already been through two major floods and we suspected it to have mold issues already. Everything happened so fast and fairly smooth for selling a house, it was never on the market and the first people who came through offered to buy it at full price and were willing to give us 6 months to live in it before closing on the house so we could figure out what we wanted/needed to do. We were spared from the stress of possibly being flooded and having to evacuate while I'm in my last month of pregnancy. And who knows, they could be dealing with minor flooding if water came up from their basement. The possible damage and concern for more mold growing, so many things that the Lord spared our family from. We are SO grateful to Him, for His provisions and that He knows all and how He directed our family and continues to!
And it's amazing how thus far we've been so gung ho about building our house, having Nathan out there every night it's been nice to get as much work and progress done as could be done, and in an instant we didn't even consider it anymore when there were others who were in desperate need of help and the concern for major flooding in town was immanent. So we've realized it's been hard to get back into the swing of things with building the house and getting out there again as much as possible. But tonight was the first night this week that Nathan got out there and started working on it. A good reminder that building our house is not what it's all about. Yes, we need to work on it but our focus needs to be on the Lord, and He will guide our every step.
Please continue to pray, we have multiple friends who have and are experiencing major flooding in their homes, the river will not go down for a while and there is the potential for the river to rise if we have more rain. The road is still long and hard for them, as they are still battling the elements and will have major repairs and rebuilding once the water finally recedes.