A New Appreciation for Life

Two days ago, on Wednesday, June 20, my wife and I received a second chance at life. To shorten the long story, we woke up to approximately 6 inches of water in our basement. As it turns out, our basement isn’t as water tight as we thought it was (especially with the irrigation water running all night long—overwatering our back yard).

However, what we didn’t realize at the time was God’s protective hand on the situation. In an illogical, and very imprudent, move, both my wife and I decided to wade into the water to assess how bad the damage was. The basement in our home is an unfinished, big open area (that we like to call our glorified root cellar because of the low ceilings). A previous owner had drywalled a section of the open area off to make another room. (Supposedly, by real-estate terms, it is a room because it has a closet, but it is hardly a livable space for practicality’s purpose.)

computer in a flood pictureCurrently we use the basement for storage (currently holding boxes and more boxes of teaching supplies that are home for the summer), laundry (our washer/dryer hookups are down there), and we cleared out a space to set up the video studio that you see in the welcome video on DesignerCam.com, and all the videos on ReflectiveBibleStudy.com.

powerstrip under-water

 

 

What made the decision to walk down there very unwise was that we didn’t think of the electrical implications of this decision. The two pictures shown here show two parts of the electronics of the video studio. As you can tell, there is definitely electricity mixing with water. (The power-strip is off, but power is running into it, and the cords by the computer have power from an outlet on the wall next to it [marked in red].) I took these pictures with the breakers to the basement turned off, but they were on when we first went down there. Looking back at the situation, I think the computer cords may have had power during the entire time since they may be on a different breaker than the other plugs. (I’ll have to check and label my breaker panel if this is the case.)

God’s Hand

Not only was God’s hand protecting the situation, but throughout the situation we saw other evidence of His presence. The first was an understanding boss at work to be OK with me not coming in on very short notice (when we are short-staffed because others are also gone).

Another blessing was that the disaster cleanup company we got a hold of told us (no-charge) that any work they would do would be unlikely to be covered by home-owners insurance. (I’m beginning to wonder why I have this – except for the obvious requirement of the mortgage lender needing it.) Instead, he recommended going to rent a small pump to pull the water out, and he looked up the location of a rental company that would carry this. (Estimate for the rental $50ish; Estimate for the water professionally pumped out; in the neighborhood of $1000 because we calculated around 2400 gallons of water and they charge per gallon.)

On not understanding the directions (or remembering the address correctly), we bailed on looking for the rental place that he suggested, and instead drove to one we knew of. They had a pump in stock and gave us a deal:  A day [24h] rental for the price of 2 hours. (Actual cost of the pump rental: less than $15)

Takeaways from this Experience

The two biggest takeaways in my mind are that (1) God is in control, and (2) there is a mission/task still left for us to do on earth. This gives both my wife and my lives a renewed sense of purpose, because life is never guaranteed.

The third is a big thank you to everyone who prays for us regularly. There have been several friends from church who have said they would pray for my wife and I, because they could sense that something might happen. Whether this was spiritual warfare at play, or simply carelessness on our part, we appreciate all the prayers we have received on our behalf.

Where to go from here

Now I have a question for you (Yes, you, my loyal reader who I appreciate): What are some thinks I can do to help you with this blog?

I often share what is on my mind every week, and while this is good (in my mind), without asking you what you’d like to see discussed or asking for feedback, I have little way of knowing if I am helping you. (I know I help some people, because a percentage of posts get a few comments, but I know more people receive this than comment.

Also, any other constructive (or not) criticism is welcome too. If you think I am too long winded with my posts, or if they aren’t long enough; or if I’m too spiritual or not spiritual enough; if I need to diversify what I post on, or if need to narrow the focus down further; or really any other thoughts, I want to know. If you like it exactly as it is, or if you don’t have a preference, I want to know that too!

We are all growing together, and I want to recommit to helping you with your life. When we die, we leave behind a trail of ripples in the water. I want your life to be better because our paths intersected.

As always, thanks for reading, and thanks in advance for responding!

~Cam