And the Rain Came Down. . .

We all know the saying, "When it rains, it pours." This week has been one of those weeks that we couldn't wait to get over. On Monday, Matt called me around 5 p.m. to let me know he was stranded on the freeway. I couldn't believe it. Matt never has this kind of bad luck. After giving the phone to Danny so he could gather all the tools and things that Matt would need, I left Danny in charge of finishing dinner and Clarissa and I were off to "help Dada fix his broken car". This is what Clarissa kept repeating on the way to assist Matt. Matt was able to switch the battery to get him on his way, but the battery wasn't the right one, so he needed a piece of rope to tie the hood down. After seeing him looking on the roadside, I rolled the window down and asked him what his was looking for and he told me a piece of rope. I got looking in the car and there in an emergency kit that his mom, Pam, had all the family make over 9 years ago was a piece of rope. I gave it the Matt and he was surprised we had something like that in the car. Thanks Pam! After having to charge the battery twice on the way home and examining the car, Matt figured out the alternator needed to be replace. It has been six days and we are stilling trying to find the right one. It's a little unbelievable that we live in the Auto City and we can't find the part for our little Ford Focus. We are very grateful that Matt is able to use a test car from work.

On Wednesday evening around 11 p.m., Jake got up to use the bathroom and stepped in water. He came running up stairs yelling, "Emergency, Emergency." I honestly thought--what now? Anyway, he continues on telling us the carpet is wet in the basement family room. Matt, being sick and already planned on taking Thursday off, mumbled as he got out of bed, "what next?" We followed Jake downstairs and as we saw how wet the carpet was, the sump pump started cycling again and we could hear the water shooting on the other side of the door. Matt opened it up and saw that a pipe on the sump pump had come completely loose. Luckily the door was there so the water didn't spray our treadmill and other stuff directly. About 2 hours and 60 gallons of water later, we headed off to bed with the plan of cleaning the carpet in the morning. Thursday was an exhausting one. Matt rented a carpet cleaner from Lowe's and spent all day working on the wet carpet and we decided since we have been wanting to clean all the carpet for awhile, he cleaned all the carpet in the house. Around 8 o'clock that evening after he had taken the machine back to the store, he was doing a further examination of the carpet downstairs and realized it was worse than he originally thought. He then began pulling up all the carpet to let the padding get more air to dry out. He had to work on Friday so after the work day, he came home telling me that he had contacted the insurance company and the carpet guy. We then had to rearrange furniture throughout the house so we could fit what was downstairs. Nothing like an impromptu change of scenery in all areas of the home! Saturday involved the removing of the padding and carpet so it can dry so the garbage man will be able to haul it away. This is so sad since the carpet was in really good shape and was only about 5 years old. We will see how things turn out with the insurance.





Things happen in threes. Isn't that the saying? Well, tonight while one of the boys was carrying Abby to the family room, she slipped and was caught leaving all her weight suspended by only one arm. She ended up dislocating her right shoulder. Matt could feel the ball out of the socket and Abby was unable to move that arm. We called a friend who is just finishing medical school and he recommended not waiting til morning to take her in and get it set back in place. Here is the part that makes it all OK. While Matt was upstairs putting Abby in her PJs before we left for the ER a strong spiritual feeling came into the room. Matt checked her shoulder a second time with clothes off and could not feel the dislocation anymore. She had been whimpering and whining (she could not use the arm) and now began again to laugh and giggle like we are used to seeing. She even reached up with the right hand, yes the right hand, to wipe away her tears! What a contrast... We call it nothing short of a miracle. A loving and kind Heavenly Father fixed Abby's shoulder. We knelt down as a family and gave thanks for His blessings. Things like this let you know you are not alone in the challenges you go through.