Welcome to my blog, or should I say to the ramblings of an old man. I doubt that my ramblings are of much value, but at least I have an opportunity to share them.  So, please be kind and humor me. If nothing else of value stands out in these thoughts, I hope that you at least sense the value I place on a daily walk with the Lord.  That walk is what has provided me with motivation and a sense of purpose throughout my lifetime.  My prayer is that you, too, are experiencing this direction and joy in daily living which is available to everyone who puts his trust in Christ.  So, thanks again for joining me.  Please don't go without leaving some comments here so I can get to know you better as our paths intersect today in this blog.

Saturday, October 2, 2010

Rain, Rain, Go Away!

For several weeks we went without rain. Lawns were brown, dust was everywhere. We really needed rain. Then it came. The local "expert" from Millersville, whose forecasts are usually very reliable, said that we might get up to 3 inches from this storm and that wouldn't be a problem. Then, Thursday morning, it began. Rain, rain, rain! We already had several inches when we got up. Twice that day I had to empty our rain gauge because it was close to overflowing. By evening we had registered slightly over 8 inches. By noon they were calling for flooding and schools began to dismiss early. Even Millersville University called off classes at 1 because there was flooding on their campus. They they announced a tornado watch for our area. We had a doctor's appointment and by the time we headed home, the water was already up to the edge of the roads near Park City. We headed home to work on water problems in our basement. The retention pond near us was filled to the brim. By evening the rain had slowed down but they were saying another major wave was yet to come. Fortunately for us, the worst of the second wave stayed east of us. But when we got up at 5 am to head for Pinebrook, our gauge showed that we had received slightly over 2 more inches overnight. That brought the total at our house to about 10.2 inches which matched the all-time mark for Lancaster County. However, the "experts" are saying we only received 8 inches. Whatever, it is still too much rain for that short period of time! Friday morning we headed to Pinebrook and drove into more rain. Before we left Lancaster County we did encounter closed roads and had to make one detour. But , thankfully, as we traveled, conditions were not nearly as bad as they were back home. When we returned we found sunny skies, cool temperatures, and winds that were drying things out. Fortunately, we did not lose our power so our sump pump was able to keep pumping away. However, I did encounter a problem with my pump which could have created more damage. Now I am not mechanically inclined, so I asked the Lord for help. Minutes later He directed me to an item that I could use as a temporary solution - and it worked. Sometimes we forget that the Lord is always there to help us with all the problems, big and small. God is so good - all the time. Incidentally, this morning our local "expert" said that we escaped much more serious damage because the ground was so dry and was able to absorb much more water than it normally would. So the Lord was in all those details as well. We complained about the dry conditions, but as it turned out they were for our good. Watching the rushing water and the raging creeks made me think of the hymn, "Jesus Lover of My Soul" and that is my choice for this week's hymn on my hymn blog. It will be available at http://barryshymns.blogspot.com/ for you to see on Sunday, October 3. Have a good day - keep dry - more "showers" are predicted for this coming week. At least it isn't snow ... yet!

No comments: