I'm not on the "A-list."

My portion of this post will be short today because other things are getting priority this week. Our son, Josh is back for a visit after a year's absence and we are relishing every minute. We've really enjoyed doing things together as a family again, talking and catching up, and just basking in his glow (kidding, but we ARE very happy just to have him around).

We love our new home and all its little quirks, but we have not been enjoying the regular flooding we've been experiencing every time it rains. Since this is rainy season, we are talking about several floods a week in our basement. One area is just for storage. Another area was a laundry room until David rerouted the plumbing and wiring for me and moved the machines up so I wouldn't have to go down steps in the dark or in the rain. But one room is for our guards to keep their stuff in and to have a place that is theirs. Here's a picture of the water line from the flooding. It's over two feet high.







Part of the problem was trash (coke bottles, motor oil, broken dishes, old soccer ball, etc) that had washed down into our drainage system. A huge part of the problem, though was our neighbor's yard. This drainage ditch runs through several yards, the entire length of our backyard, and drops off into a ravine that feeds the nearby river. When it works properly, those concrete slabs are over the culvert, rain water drains into pipes like the one in this photo and travels out of the yard. But in our yard, instead of water going into the pipes, sand is washing out of them and water is flooding the yard and the basement.

Matthew came over and the guys started prying up the concrete and found that our culvert was filled 12 inches deep with sand that had washed down from the neighbor's yard! So the neighbor is getting a new retaining wall and repairing his side of the problem. An unexpected blessing with that is that one of our guards is skilled in concrete work and masonry and will get the job, so his family will have a little extra money this month.




I wanted to write something inspirational for Christmas but haven't been able to get my brain to switch to creative mode. My friend Shawn Lantz wrote a piece about the birth of the King for her blog that I think is well worth reading. She makes several good points, one of which is that the shepherds who received the birth announcement would not have made society's "A-list" and those who would have at the time were unaware of the birth of Christ. I will never make the "A-list" by society's standards either, but because Jesus humbled Himself and came as a baby for me, I am now a daughter of the King! Check out Shawn's article, "A Foolish Birth Announcement."