Family, a Flood, a Fire, and Frenzy

Our family has been through a lot in the past year. I have had much trouble with my health and am currently struggling. Rick had surgery on a torn rotator cuff. The three oldest, my Momma and I made a 2 week missions trip to Missouri. And the kids have all grown!
Devin is 3 1/2 weeks from his 17th birthday. He is a Sr and has picked his college~Blessed Hope Baptist College in Benton, Arkansas. He still plays basketball, only the homeschool team is now the Camp FAith Warriors. He is nearly 6'.
Sierra is 4 weeks from her 15th birthday. She is a sophomore. She is still a cheerleader for the Camp FAith Warriors. She is beautiful both inside and outside. Sierra is Mommas right hand and helps keep the house running smoothly.
Mackenzie is 2 months from 13 and is in 8th grade. SHe has passed both Sierra and I in height and is a beautiful young lady. She is good with the little kids, keeping them entertained while Sierra and I do the hard work.
Tanner is 10 1/2 and in 7th grade. He comes to my chin and will soon catch me, I think. He looks forward to being able to play basketball! He was allowed to start mowing this summer to help Devin and loved it. He is a sweet boy and a total daredevil with NO fear.
Keegan is 8 1/2 and in 4th grade. He grew a lot and is now in a size 10! He is still as adorable as he was as a baby...and still as poky. He must be prodded along even for things he wants to do.He is a cuddler and that dimpled grin just melts your heart.
Skyler is 6 and in 1st grade. Her curls have made it almost to her waist when wet and she finally has bangs! She learned to read this past year and is very excited to improve this year. She still wants to be "as big as Keegan" and is doing a good job of catching him as she now wears a size 10 also. She too likes to cuddle and spend time talking.
Kaden is 3 months away from his 4th birthday and is a big boy when it is to his advantage and a little when it is to his advantage. He moved to a twin size bed 4 months ago. He thinks he can and should do everything the "guys" do. He spends hours a day sitting on my lap talking, reading, snuggling, telling stories, giggling, etc...and I enjoy every second because I know this phase passes much too fast and he won't want to spend so much time with me. I will miss having little ones under foot all the time and so I cherish the moments now.

In the wee morning hours of Sunday morning on August 6, our street flooded and became a chest deep river with a very strong current. My husband got home from work at 1am by back roads and woke me so we could decide whether we should get the kids out as the water was already to our front door and nearing our back door. I decided to record it before we made a decision, and as I recorded a car came floating by. A few minutes later, another care came and this one stopped in front of our house. They called for help and my husband went in search of roap. What he fond is cheap clothes line stuff I got from the dollar store for camping to tie down our load. We tied one end to the corner of our fence which was nearly under water and then my husband took the other end to the van stranded in the water. He tied it on, and we eventually got 4 people out of the van and onto dry ground. As we were working, 2 more vehicles came through and so we moved to those vehicles and helped 3 more people to dry ground. By this time, the water had risen to the point that our car was under water up to the seats and it was on our back porch. we ended up losing our furnace and all our ductwork, we must replace all floors, most floor joists, some walls, most trim, lots of furniture, all carpeting and linoleum, plus lots of items out of our garage and our sandbox. But it ccould have been worse

As we were cleaning up from the flood, our sump pump died. We bought a new one, but it still wouldn't drain the water.I went to the breaker box and noticed we had a breaker off so I flipped it. It started the sump pump!!! It also started the furnace. :( Rick yelled and told me to turn the furnace off. Uuummm...its August. The furnace IS off! But I went in to make sure. He figured that getting wet confused it and said he would keep an eye on it. I have been sick, so I pu the 2 youngest down for a nap and I went to bed. An hour later Rick comes in and yells "get up the furnace is on fire!" I wake the little kids up, gather up the rest of the kids, and have Devin drive them all to my sisters so that I know they are all safe while Rick and a friend work to get the fire out and unhook the funace.

We have spent the last week in a frenzy of activity~cleaning, tossing, scrubbing, trying to save things, crying over things that can't be saved. We have emptied the entire garage which was used as a storage facility for 4 families to make room for our things. We have taken out the furnace and all the duct work. We have ripped up every carpet in the house. We have packed up 2 complete rooms and carried them up to the garage. We have scrubbed 4 inches of mud off the floors. We have emptied about a million buckets from the dehumidifiers. We have taken 3 truckloads to the salvation army. We have taken 4 truckloads to the dump.We have been shopping to buy a furnace, duct, and wood. We have baked cookies and pepperoni rolls to thank the coal miners my husband works with for the money they gave to help us. And we are nowhere near done.

This week, we must pack up the rest of the house, buy the rest of the supplies we need, have food made and ready....because Saturday a group of friends and family will be coming for a work day.

Please pray for us. Pray for our health as we live in this house and breathe in this nastiness 24 hours a day. Please pray for our safety as we our living in a construction zone with bare floors, walls, lumber piles everywhere, junk pile outside, etc. Please pray for our spirits to stay up as this can be depressing. Please pray for our finances. Please pray for strength to get the job done. Thank you and have a wonderful day!!!