First Day in Iowa...

It's been a bit of a long day. I made it to Burlington just in time to have lunch with Mom and Gramma. If you were on the news at all Tuesday, you may have seen that a levee broke in Gulfport, IL, which is exactly across the river from Burlington. Mom, Gramma, and I went to a river viewpoint called Mosquito Park, where we could see the water flooding into Illinois from that levee break. Incredible.

After my brother and sister got off work, we headed up the highway to see the house. THANKFULLY, the Big Ditch has not broken!! Total praise!! It's not out of the woods yet, but the river is starting to fall, so it's looking more likely it will hold! woo hoo! That's great for so many people! I admit, I had point today where I told God, "you know, You easily could've held the other levee just like You're holding the Big Ditch." I know there's purpose, and I still have faith, but I wasn't understanding it. Unfortunately, when we got to the road that lead to the Big Ditch, there were a couple of Guardsmen at the road, and they wouldn't let us go pass. So, I have yet to see the house, although when the fear goes down on the Big Ditch in a couple of days, I should be able to get there.

Dad was able to get a few hours of sleep in this evening, which was absolutely needed. He only slept an hour last night and hasn't slept more than four hours in one night for the past week. Before he headed off to work again at 11 p.m., just Dad, Mom, Nikki, Nate, and I spent some time together and talked about the situation. It was good to be all together.

The biggest prayer request right now is housing. Mom, Nikki and Adrian are staying at my gramma's, but it's only an apartment and they need more room, especially when Dad stops working nights. They've had several offers from people to let them use a space in their home or an empty house, which is great!! They need to think about those offers and see what else is out there. They know they can't be choosy, but location is a big deal to them. They're also unsure how long they'll be there. It's possible they'll be staying somewhere for a year, so they want to make sure they find a place they can live in for that long, but is in a good location and is financially reasonable. At the point, they are not making a decision as to whether they will rebuild at the farm or find another place. It's likely the water won't be completely gone until August. They won't make a decision until they see it and how much damage there is.

Mom took a TON of pictures of the house, inside and out, the day they moved out. I was looking at those, and it made me a bit emotional, especially knowing I'll never see it again like that. I never would've imagined I wouldn't be able to make the drive down the gravel road and pull into my driveway. Now the only way to get there is by boat.

Here's the house just a day before it flooded. Nothing fancy, but my family took pride in it and loved it!



Mom also had some great before and after pictures of the area. I've put them side by side so you can see the difference. These were all taken within a day of each other. All of that water went SEVEN MILES before it reached our area. That tells you how fast it was moving. It's estimated to be around 25 feet deep.









Mom has a cousin, Dave, who owns a small airplane. He's offered to take my whole family up and over all of the flooded area. We're looking forward to doing that in the next couple of days. The view will be astounding!

In the meantime, this is the sweet little guy I get to spend the day with Wednesday! Aunt duties are starting already, and I'm going to be taking care of my precious, 6-month-old nephew, Peyton. I'm excited, as I've only seen him twice since he was born! We're going to snuggle, giggle, and take a stroll through the park!




As always, thanks for praying! :)

stephanie