Perspective

The repercussions for the flood our area experienced this past weekend continue. I heard about one particular family who really didn't have any damage until the following Monday afternoon, a day with no rain, when the river finally reached it's peak and began to fill their home.

Watching the community rally around others has been so inspiring. Several verses have shed new light in my heart:

James 2:15-17 ~ "Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, 'Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,' but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead."

Or this one:

Matthew 25:42-45 ~ "For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me. They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?' He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.'"

Yesterday morning, Dick and I responded to a request from a teacher at Brentwood Academy, where both of our girls went to school from grades 6-12. This teacher's mother-in-law was a victim of the downpours from the weekend. She lived in a condominium and her home and car were a total loss.

I really don't think the severity of the storms had hit me until I walked into where she had lived. Initially, I was so stunned as we waded through mud and began helping to remove her belongings, rip our carpet and pad, pull off wet drywall and insulation, and gather most everything into trash bags. It brought tears to my eyes as I pulled photographs from mud-soaked albums and tried to dry them in the sun. I tried to picture the main floor of our house filled with 9 ft. of water, and it helped me put myself in this homeowner's shoes. (By the way, in this woman's house the refrigerator finally settled on its side after floating around in the floodwaters).

The last week for me has been a bit difficult, and honestly I can't put my finger on all of the whys. Some reasons seem legitimate ~ this will be the first Mother's Day since my mom passed away last June, my Dad and Dick's Dad are still dealing with a lot of health concerns, my brother Jeff has been heavy on my heart . . .

Other reasons are not so legitimate, and I would embarrass myself to share those. Some of them are ridiculously trivial in light of all that's going on around me. So my prayer today is, "Lord, give me perspective. Help me see life through eternal eyes. Help me recognize what really matters, and what really doesn't."

I'm posting some photos I took with my phone of this dear lady's house. May we all view our circumstances through the lens of 2 Cor. 4:16-18 (from the Message). "So we're not giving up. How could we! Even though on the outside it often looks like things are falling apart on us, on the inside, where God is making new life, not a day goes by without his unfolding grace. These hard times are small potatoes compared to the coming good times, the lavish celebration prepared for us. There's far more here than meets the eye. The things we see now are here today, gone tomorrow. But the things we can't see now will last forever."