Lord, thank you for the flooded basement…seriously

Yesterday was a challenge for me.

Tropical Storm Lee dumped lots and lots of rain on my neck of the woods in Virginia, and thanks to the earthquake we had a few weeks ago there are now cracks in the foundation of the townhouse I rent.

Through those cracks came the water, and the water ruined several boxes of my book inventory for my online bookstore.

As I cleaned up the mess, and had to keep going down and up the stairs throughout the day to use my carpet-cleaning machine to suck up the water before it ruined more boxes of books, I couldn’t help thinking:

“At least I have a basement to flood. At least I’m dry. At least I’m not standing in the doorway of a store trying to keep from getting wet…”

and so on.

I mean, I was frustrated, disappointed, sad, stressed and all that from the damage being done to the basement and the books, but it could be much worse, and it was much worse for those who couldn’t say “at least I have a basement” or “at least I have a roof over my head.”

The water in my basement wasn’t nearly as bad as the flooding in New York and Pennsylvania. I didn’t have to evacuate my living space because the water was wading height. The most I lost was time away from working on projects for clients, about 2% of my book inventory and all the extra calories I burned from walking down and up the steps, sucking up the water with the carpet-cleaning machine and moving 35-pound boxes to dryer locations.

So, thank you, God, for the flood in the basement. You always know how to show me that You’re there, and I’m blessed to have You in my life.

Romans 8:28