5 Weeks

5 weeks ago the water receded. 5 weeks ago people began to access the damage. 5 weeks ago strangers became like family. 5 weeks ago debris piles began to grow. 5 weeks ago people began feeling overwhelmed.
I'm tired. I'm tired of debris piles littering the parish, wondering when the "claw" will pick up the trash. I'm tired of seeing small businesses close because it'll cost too much to rebuild. I'm tired of crying when I hear flood stories. I'm tired of my back hurting from painting, mopping, cleaning windows and clearing debris at the church/school. I'm tired of life being in disarray. I'm tired of the smell. I'm tired of the traffic because of flood related issues. I'm tired of not being able to go to any store I want or stopping by Starbucks for a much needed caffeine treat. I'm tired of driving into BR if I need to do a bank transaction.
What I'm not tired of is having an unfinished church. Man alive, I have felt the Lord's presence more than I think I ever have during the last few church services. I love how we, as a church body, have been forced to go back to the basics. No fancy sound system. No soft pews. No plush carpet. No walls even for a few weeks. No distractions. I'm not tired of strangers reaching out to help. I'm not tired of my friends calling and asking how they can help. I'm not tired of the strong sense of community. I'm not tired of being proud of my family. P started back to school last week and handled it like a champ. E is still (in my opinion) dealing with PTSD and will not let me out of his sight for more than 5 minutes. So he came with me to do manual labor at the church and school last week. He worked for 4 1/2 hours a day- mopping, sweeping, throwing away debris, painting, cleaning windows, emptying buckets, etc and he only complained twice because he was understandably tired. Rob continues to sacrifice and help others in need, but more on the emotional level (yes, you read that correctly) than the manual labor level. I'll never get tired of being proud of all that my family does and gives to help others.
Today, 5 weeks after the water receded, life seemed normal- or as normal as it can be at this time-because E and I started back to school. He had a rough time, like I knew he would, but he had given me a Paw Patrol sticker as I walked him to class. I wore it on my hand and prayed for him every time I looked at it. He's well loved at preschool and lots of teachers watch out for him so I'm not worried about him. I think it's good that we're all somewhat back in a routine.
A year from now I hope I can blog that life is completely back to normal and that businesses are thriving. I hope I can blog that I still get moved by the Lord's presence as much as I have been lately. I hope I can blog that Rouses is up and running again because poor E asks me on a daily basis when it'll be open so he can make sure "his" baby cart didn't float away. I hope I can blog that I still feel a sense of community like I've experienced in the past 5 weeks.
A year from now life will be different but for the past 5 weeks it's looked like this:

Standing in front of our neighbor's debris pile wearing a shirt I had won right after the flood

3 weeks after the flood, still abandoned on the main road in DS

A middle school that lost everything

The brown is the water line from the flood

A month after the flood this boat is still sitting in the middle of someone's field

Me and a co-worker spraying for mold at the church

Clearing out debris at the school

We are blessed that this sweet lady is in our lives and watches out for E while he's in preschool.

Only 2 of the piles that sat in front of our church until this past Saturday when the "claw" finally took it away.

Pre-Flood

It's hard to imagine what life was like before the Louisiana Flood of 2016. But I know that the day the flood started was a day I was going to blog about some exciting things that had happened prior to water consuming our lives.
One exciting thing is that the boys and I all started school. For P it was just a new grade. He shed a few tears the first day of school but decided that he liked his new teacher and was happy that one of his neighbor friends is in the same class. For E, it was a whole new world. He started preschool! He loved the first day, walked in like a boss. His favorite part of the day was lunch and talked about the delicious chicken he had several times after I picked him up. He's only going for 4 1/2 hours a day~ long enough to develop social skills, learn academic skills that he's lacking, play with new friends and eat a delicious lunch. For me it was a whole new world as well. I started teaching high school (yes, you read that right). I teach junior high Science and high school History classes. It's definitely a change but I love the school and the students! I only teach 4 classes a day, which is just enough to get me used to my whole new world. We only had a week of school to adjust to our new "norm" before another new "norm" was introduced in the form of a flood that devastated our parish (county for everyone who lives outside of LA).
The most exciting thing that happened is that P decided to publicly profess his faith by getting baptized! He had been talking to us about it for several months, asking questions and growing in his young faith. After talking to our pastor and children's church pastor, we gave him the decision on when he'd like to be baptized. He was baptized on August 7th in front of family and friends. What a joyous occasion it was!
So, despite all the tragedy and heartache, there have been some exciting things going on as well. During this difficult time, it's nice to look back on the "Before the Flood" days, knowing that the happy days are going to happen again in the near future!