Wondering?

I've had a few "Are you Under Water?" emails lately, and I thought I would answer via blog.

No, we are not personally using scuba gear to get from our front door to our driveway. We are not in need of a canoe to get to and from work. We are not turning into the underwater City of Atlantis (although they had the luxury of a big dome to stay dry). BUT, there are several people, churches and businesses who are, and they could use your prayers, too!

My friend Jenna has been updating her blog on the happenings in Cedar Rapids, where her family is from. So, you can read that for information...and entertainment. She even posts pictures so you can feel like you're there! Up close and personal with the water, they are!

Thank you all dearly for your concern!

Here is a copy of an email I sent to a caring friend:

We're doing alright in our neck of the woods! Our basement has some water, but we have a sump pump working 24/7 to keep us dry! :) Mingo is basically dry, our river banks are steep, so all the water rising has been fairly well contained, praise the Lord! It's just the saturated ground that is causing a lot of standing water. Our ditches are full, though...and constantly running. It's like we have a little stream in our front yard where the ditch is! One good thing about all this is that I haven't had to water a single plant or flower most of this new spring! Although, the weeds are getting pretty nasty! Our yard is in good shape as well. But, across the street is another story! We are surrounded by lakes...that once were fields. Hopefully, the farmers will still have decent yield after this! Most of the flooding is in Des Moines, though...where they opened the Saylorville Lake flood gates to keep the whole city from going under! So, many of the streets and bridges in the city of Des Moines are closed and Cedar Rapids and Waterloo are really under water. We have a friend that pastors a church there. In fact, we just had a meeting there in April. So, we're hoping to hear good news from them. Also, we have a friend who pastors a church in Des Moines. They had to evacuate the church (files and important things, etc) just in case the levy didn't do it's job when the Des Moines River was getting filled up. Our church in Cambridge suffered some flooding as well. The basement hasn't been useable for a few weeks so classrooms and nurseries have had to be relocated. The town of Cambridge has also seen damage from the water. From what I have heard, people have had significant damage to their homes! As a church, though, we hope to reach out to them during this time.

Here are some pictures from my friend Dan'l, who is a Cambridge resident.