Splish - splash

I was so happy this morning about the fact that I was up early. Normally I like to sleep in a bit, but the storms in Rockford last night awakened me, so I decided to just get an early start to the day. The clock was blinking, so I knew that we had lost power, but I wasn't certain for how long the power had been out. I figured Lacey could reset the clocks.

I made my way to the kitchen and prepared a fruit smoothie (the breakfast of champions). Then I proceeded to my office in the basement to check on e-mails. When I hit the bottom step, I felt something wet. My first thought was that the cat had puked. But this felt different, and when, upon moving my foot I felt another "squish", I knew that it wasn't the cat.

I needed to see what was happening, so, I did what any sane person standing in a pool of water should do, I turned on the light. Fortunately the room lit up, and I didn't. The whole basement was flooded. Every bit of carpet was soaked. Fortunately the flooding was minimal (meaning I didn't have to wade through water to investigate). Still, the flooring is ruined. I don't know whether the Compaq computer on the floor was affected, and I'm going to wait until things are cleaned up and dried out to find out.

Despite all of this, God is gracious. When Lacey came downstairs and saw the mess, she said "What do we do?" I had no idea where to start, so I said "We pray." We've been going through Hebrews 12 at church for the past few months, and Pastor Bixby spent several weeks on verses 5-11 (chastening). I grew up equating chastening with punishment. Sometimes there is a remedial element to chastening. But the word for chastening here is training. And this chastening/training takes several forms. Sometimes it is corrective (to put us on the right course). Sometimes it is preventative (to keep us off the wrong course). Sometimes it is instructive (to take us through something for the purpose of our own sanctification). For now, we cling to the words of Hebrews 12:11:

11 Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

After we prayed we began making phone calls. First to our insurance carrier. Then to the water clean up company. I didn't know whether we had coverage. In fact, the language I had in front of me made me think the damage would fall in one of the numerous exclusions on the policy. We just took a deep breath and told ourselves God knows what we need.

A couple of hours later I received a call from the adjuster. He began walking me through the claim process, and instructed me on dealing with the water removal ("Just get rid of the carpet...don't let them charge for drying out carpet that you are going to need to replace"). I asked him, then, if I certainly had coverage. He told me that I had purchased a premium policy (I didn't know that I had, but I'm thankful that I did) and that this would be covered (up to a certain amount).

This has reminded us once again of how completely we must rely on God for everything. Whether it's a storm, or insurance coverage, or the processing of visas for children, or even our very next breath, every thing hinges on the grace of our God. That's an important lesson, and one I'm thankful to have received, even if, for the moment, it doesn't seem pleasant.