"and I know He watches me."
Last Friday it rained a lot.
A lot is an understatement.
Last Friday the heavens opened up and we had a brief experience of what it would have been like if we missed the ark.
Thankfully, our home was not flooded, but others in our neighborhood were.
Now, Friday, at lunch time, I realized we needed to get milk. We had received a flash flood warning on our phone, but we hadn't had any rain, so that didn't seem very relevant when I was getting Judah and myself in the car for a quick run to the Country Store, about ten minutes from our house.
As I was driving in, it was starting to rain and I noticed a lot of areas that were saturated with water already, which I thought was unusual since we were not getting any rain. Then it started to pour again, as I was still driving toward the store, and I was noticing what seemed to be a lack of good drainage of the streets. And then I drove down an essential road to get back from the store, and saw that the low-lying bridge had rising, fast-moving, brown water under it. And I should have turned around then. But I am pretty hard headed. So on we went, a few minutes to the country store. As we neared it, there was water already overflowing from the drain in place under the road, and water over the road (just a half an inch, but it was there).
Quickly, Judah and I went in, and alas, there was no milk! I still bought cheese, and mentioned to the cashier I would probably have trouble getting home. Bleh. By the time I drove out of the parking lot, the little streams across the road were much higher and as I got to the road I would have turned down, I saw a fire engine turn down that road and I knew that there was no way down that road. So I pulled into a stranger's driveway. And there we sat as the rain poured down. I got Judah out of his carseat so he wouldn't get restless-- and he was Quite happy to climb all over the car. But I was anxious and at the beginnings of panicking because I wasn't sure when we would get home. At this point, it was 2:15 pm. I called Ben to tell him he was right, that I shouldn't have left the house.... and that my phone was dying. And after that call I couldn't respond to any of the messages of calls from him. Then we sat in the car in a downpour for close to an hour. It was still pouring down rain when the owner of the house came out and tried to help me brainstorm a way home, which proved futile; the roads he suggested were closed/flooded. So we ended back at the country store. I went in, bought a snack, and camped out in the rocking chair by the exit. It was ice cold in there, but at least there was food, water, a bathroom, and sweaters to buy if I got cold enough.
There were at least ten to fifteen people stranded there with me--a cluster of old gentlemen, one of whom graciously allowed me to call Ben on his phone to update him on my location (it had been at least an hour since we'd last spoken). A man came into the store in a full suit and tie attempting to get to a wedding in Elizabethtown (just ten minutes down the road). A grandma, mom, and her two kids headed for Hershey Park. A man and his son, who didn't know what town he was in, just that he had gotten off of 283, which was also flooded. Someone who lived half a mile from the store, but the road was closed to get there. A lady came in, also stranded, with updates-- a local trailer park was being evacuated due to flooding. And, oddly enough, an employee talking about how people just don't know how to drive in floodwater. The store manager was lightheartedly planning the night's stay at two employees' homes who lived within a quarter mile of the store.
Because we had left the house in a hurry, I didn't have my diaper bag, I was wearing shorts and a tank top, and Judah was just wearing a onesie. I did have my baby carrier, by God's grace. The car still had our plug in GPS, but it didn't have live updates for how the roads were.
Eventually, we'd been there an hour or more (around 4:00pm), To quell my worries, I'd (unsuccessfully) shopped for sweaters, Naisa's birthday gift, various flours, and checked to see if they had diapers in stock. They did not.) The store manager looked up and printed a list of closed roads for several people. I took one and looked at it.... and after looking at it some more, saw that the date it was from was September 9, 2011..... from the last time Lancaster County had flooded... Eventually she called me into her office and showed me a map from the waze app (shout out to them!!), where people had posted alerts for roads that weren't just main roads, and all my roads home were still flooded. Then I remembered someone from church lived across the road... or at least someone else from church said that someone from church lived across the road, so I asked if I could use the computer to check. I found someone! I had to Facebook message them to see if they were able-- but they answered right away and invited us over!
I was so relieved! I gathered my things and headed out to the car. I turned on the GPS, plugged in their address, and drove the two minutes to their apartment. Jen and Caleb enthusiastically invited me in and immediately, I relaxed. As I borrowed Jen's phone to call Ben, Caleb showed me his phone charger, which worked for my phone! Judah was so happy to be out of the carrier and walking around, playing with the cat toys, and the games they had available.
They had planned to be at a home inspection, because they were buying a house, but because of the rain, they had to stay home. Out of the blue, Caleb asked, "Do you need diapers? We have diapers!" I looked where he was pointing and saw an unopened box of size 4 Luvs diapers. "Yeah, those came by accident from Target a few days ago."
They were the right size. Jen and Caleb don't have kids. They aren't even expecting a baby. They had absolutely no use for them. God provided for us, a few days ahead of time.
They also had a pull out couch if I needed a place to sleep that night. And they were totally ok with us staying there.
We sat down and chatted. I nursed Judah and he got his sillies out. We laughed and watched the video footage on the news from the flooding. It was absolutely crazy. Main Street looked like a river with rapids at one point. We stayed for dinner and dessert (yum!), and after dinner (7pm), I was starting to think about coming home.
Caleb volunteered to drive around to see how the roads were. (Thanks, Caleb!!) While he was out, Jen and I looked at each other's wedding pictures (which is always super fun!), and by then, Caleb was back and the roads looked fine, although he looked a little wet, (which we found out he had bad luck with a utility truck and closing windows too slowly), but if I couldn't make it home, they told me to come back for the night.
I was still smiling about it when I loaded up my finally tired baby, my block of cheese, my fully charged slider phone, and a box of 144 Luvs size 4 diapers into my car and said bye. Without much trouble (just one spot with water and two easy reroutings) I made it home and ended my evening with an early bedtime.
I give thanks and glory to God for that one! God knew I would need a gracious grocery store staff and a ROCKING chair to camp out in, and a manager willing to let me use the computer. There was someone I knew right across the road-- within my island of not flooded area. There were home and on Facebook the moment I messaged them. They were happy to host us for the night if need be. They had a charger for my phone and for goodness sake's Judah's diapers arrived a few days earlier!
God takes care of the little things in our lives, not just the big things.
We can pray to God for the little things, too.
Not just, "Lord, save me from this flood."
Not just, "Lord, keep me on higher ground."
But also, "Lord, please help me have diapers for my baby tonight!
Please help me be able to charge my phone."
Trust the Lord in the little things.
