Skip to main content

Stuffitis

I was midly guilt-ridden today as I returned the babysitter home after she had spent the night at our house. Driving down the streets of our little town, the sidewalks were littered with carpets, furniture, toys, appliances--anything that stands within waist-height of an adult. These things all had to be discarded by their owners because of the massive flooding taking place on the east coast, some of which hit our nook of the world. The guilt wasn't due to me having my belongings preserved, but more for my lack of affection and connection to the things I own. I'm feeling a bit convicted that I need to appreciate the things that are sitting in their respective places from the dishes clean in my cabinets to the carpets that aren't swollen with sewage-contaminated mud. As I surveyed the mess around town, I reflected on how heartbroken I'd be if I had to discard my son's beloved Star Wars battleships or my daughter's collection of stuffed kitties that I routinely complain about littering the floor.

Not only to the daily tools like couches and refrigerators get ruined in an event like this, but precious items like baby momentos, family pictures and wedding keepsakes. I had only a small ceiling leak that annoyed me upon my return home on Wednesday. Above is Hero Guy on one of the 40 air boat rescues he's made in the last 4 days, getting stranded people out of their homes, some of which were flooded to the ceilings of their first stories. Some of these people are enduring the third house flood in as many years--and I was irritated about that yellow spot on my ceiling. Shame on me!

Comments

Anonymous said…
I had a trinkle of water in our cellar and I was upset. The houses RIGHT behind us, being lower and across from a raging creek, were flooded out! How lucky we are!!!!
~Sue
7/02/2006 2:29 PM
Anonymous said…
I know exactly what you mean Jen - it makes you feel guilty - we saw many of those piles after those three hurricanes and we lost nothing. A neighbor of Paul and Jen's came home after being away during the storm, pulled in and were so relieved that everything looked normal...then opened their front door to find all their ceilings had collapsed and everything was ruined! Ugh. It made us count our blessings over and over to see so many hurting.
7/02/2006 3:22 PM
Unknown said…
It's hard for me to imagine what people go through when they lose their precious belongings. How sad it is for me to see others suffer such a loss, it could be me and very well may be me one day. I must continue to be thankful for the blessings God has given and never take what He's done for me for granted.
7/03/2006 10:30 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Little Chic's New Do

I have been bugging Little Chic to cut her waist-length hair for a long time. She did take about 4 inches off it about two months ago, and ever since, has been toying with the idea of something drastic and cool. Today was the day! I love it, but it's a little sad too--seeing how it makes her look all mature and teenager-ish.
4 comments
Read more

Stickin' It Out

I got married today. Well, not exactly today. It was Friday, June 2. But the year was 1989 - 17 years ago. "Amazing", people say. "Good for you", they comment. "You must have picked the right one", the add. Amazing? Yes. Good for me? I'll admit it. But it has nothing to do with picking the right one, really. It's not because I found the perfect boy, and it's certainly not because he found the perfect girl. It might sound a little unromantic, but there never really is a 'right one' floating around out there waiting in the cosmos for the other 'right one' to crash and connect. There may be 'better ones'; there may be 'more easily compatible' or something or other. But the real story is you start becoming the right one the moment you vow that "you do". When I married, I had been 20 for a whole 33 days, we had just completed a 2-year long-distance realtionship and HE was five years older tha
19 comments
Read more

"Huncle" Dave

This guy's my uncle. He's 8 years older than me. With my dad being the oldest of 10 kids, my grandma still had kids at home by the time my dad was getting started with life. This guy was my hero when I was growing up--sort of the big brother role, but with a little more novelty than a constant bully and boss hanging around. He certainly did his share of bossing and bullying, but I took it all in stride since I thought he was an incredibly big deal. Since he was the youngest of 10 kids, but older than all the grandkids, he took full advantage and made the best of his position in life. One aspect of him being more 'mature and world-wise' was that he required treatment of proper respect and authority. Thus, I, and my cousins, were expected to boost his ego by calling him by his rightful name "Huncle". This classy moniker had the unique combination of the relationship (uncle) and his self-proclamation of him being a teenage 'hunk'. Since growing up,
8 comments
Read more