Aftermath

It has taken awhile for me to even be able to get to the point where I could take pictures or process the aftermath from the flooding. To a certain extent, in the initial stages of the flooding the reality of the situation had not fully sunk in. By last Friday, when I first was able to get back to my place, I took a few pictures that morning, but by that afternoon, I was so tired of the whole mess, I could not deal with it anymore. Everything stunk and was dirty and muddy looking. There were water lines on everything and new electric meters replacing the old ones that had been submerged. I had power, but when I checked the milk in my fridge, it was sour. This suggested that the whole fridge and freezer were probably a total loss in terms of food. If I had not gone back to Scott and Hannah’s and seen them and my smiley baby niece, I would probably have had a meltdown. This week, on Thursday, I walked part of my favorite pathway. It looks so sad. The flood waters damaged so much. Yesterday, I took my camera and caught some of it. However, without being able to see the whole thing, the true magnitude is lost. It is so sad to see what had been such a pretty and peaceful area, look so torn apart. Today, when I had time to walk further along the pathway, I was saddened to find it suddenly ended with no indication of where the path normally goes. All was covered in sand and fallen trees.

This makes me think of my physical condition in some ways. Having once been very healthy and strong, not having to be careful or take thought of what I did and how I did it makes it harder to accept the reality that I can no longer live like that. Now, it takes effort to do basic, everyday tasks. I have to plan what and how to do things in order to not overdo it, yet maximize what ability I do have. The flooding itself did not do too much to me. Yes, I had to be evacuated by boat and yes, I lost the food in my fridge and freezer. But, I was able to salvage some from the fridge and quite a bit from the freezer. Compared with those who are dealing with the water damage, I am really very well off. The biggest impact the flooding had on me was to interfere with the various therapies, exercises, routines, etc. that I had been incorporating over the past several months in dealing with the pain. Pain levels are definitely less controlled now than prior to the flooding. The extra driving in particular has been hard. Yet, even in this God is sovereign and allowed things to happen as they did. My task is to simply trust.

Thanking and praising Him for going before and being with me all the way!