Secret Angels

All along we have said that God is using others to deeply bless our family.  Today was no different, but I was very aware of how much we need others once again.

I left for the hospital after running down to the basement to retrieve my jacket I had just washed.  Less than 2 hours later, Melanie called to say the basement was covered in water.  It had been completely dry when I was down there in the morning.  I was not in a position to leave the hospital today as we were having some issues with Hope's breast milk.  The fat was not separating and it was something I needed to stay close to remedy as soon as the milk settled.  We were 5 minutes away from running out of feed when I was finally able to mix more.  Shawn was at work and I felt helpless knowing that so many of our things were sitting in puddles.

Melanie went above and beyond the call of duty.  She put Sadie into a bathing suit and rain boots and began tackling the water.  Shawn talked her through how to turn off the water to avoid any further damage.  We had a lot of boxes, a mattress, rugs, camping gear, Christmas decorations and other things in storage.  The drywall is wet along two walls and we have a lot to reorganize, but we were fortunate.  The damage could have been much worse if Melanie had not found the problem so quickly.  Imagine how bad it would have been if no one had noticed until the evening!

Shawn's dad came over to the house and discovered that the valve on the water heater was broken.  He called a plumber and had it fixed today.  The plumber suggested we replace the entire water heater sometime soon but we've decided to wait it out as it's not very old and we feel like we should be able to get more time out of it.

A friend came over, with her 2 kids, and sorted through some things and helped get the reorganization started.  We are so blessed to have so many amazing people in our lives that drop everything and come to our rescue.

After a trip to the dentist, I ran to Wal-mart to stock up on Rubbermaids to be sure that nothing is on the floor in a cardboard box again.  It's too risky, we could have lost so much more if the things had sat much longer in all that water.  I realized today that Hope has caused me to see that life is bigger than these annoyances.  Yes, it was very inconvenient and not a fun experience, but what did it cost me?  It cost us a few hundred dollars to replace the valve and another hundred on rubbermaids.  In the long run, no one in our family was harmed and life will continue.  Does it really matter if we lose a few of our earthly possessions?

I'm not sure how it's possible after today, but I feel very blessed.  We have incredible support from others, Hope is getting stronger and we have a home...that is currently a bit damp!  This evening I'll have to head back to the hospital to mix more of Hope's feed as she's going to run out at 11pm.  It's a hassle once again, but we're blessed to have donor milk and the opportunity to feed something to Hope!

Thank you to everyone that is carrying us through life right now.  We clearly could not do this alone and appear to be collecting drama!