It's coming.......

God has been Healing the Heartland! Last year (June 13) we experienced a major flood that changed many people's lives forever.

We are celebrating God's GOODNESS and the incredible healing He has been performing during this year in a super cool festival, Healing the Heartland.

All of the activities are FREE!

The Newsboys and Barlow Girl (can you believe it????) will be performing Sat. night, June 13th. Please consider visiting Cedar Rapids for this awesome event!

Click on the picture above for details and

Click here for more on the flood.

Blessings!

Word-filled Wednesday

You may have noticed this image on my sidebar. It is a picture from last year's flood in Cedar Rapids. June 13th marks the one year anniversary, but it seems like a LIFETIME ago....

Our city is remembering this date by celebrating what God has done. (Please scroll down to read more about the FANTASTIC celebration!) There were so many times you could witness the hand of God through this difficult trial. And, while our human nature tends to ask "why", we rest in the knowledge that our God is GOOD and that we become stronger through our adversaries. Without resistance, we would never grow. The most important thing to remember is that God is with us. He never leaves us. And, He is here walking us through it.

Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name; you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. For I am the Lord, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior." Isaiah 43:1-3

Please join in this week's WFW! Click here to see more participants!.

Here are more pictures of the flood. Click here and here and here to read more about the flooding. And, please scroll down to read about the celebration!

One Country, One Community, One Church....I am at the Cafe Today

Is it really the 4th of July? Could it be? For our family, this holiday is quite different than years past….

We are residents of Cedar Rapids, Iowa. You may have watched our plight on national (or international) news. We experienced the worst flood in the history of Iowa, and possibly the United States. It has been called a “catastrophic event.” The Cedar River crested at almost twelve feet higher than ever in recorded history, 20 feet higher then flood stage. More than 4,000 homes were flooded as 1,300 city blocks were inundated with water. Many of these people can not go back home. They have been “displaced”- living with friends, relatives, in apartments, two shelters set up in area schools, and now possibly FEMA trailers. These people have lost everything. Clothing, material possessions, pictures, keepsakes…..everything. My friend has lost eight homes in her family- it has affected her mother, brothers, sisters, and cousins.....

Please visit the Internet Cafe to finish reading this devotion. Blessings!

Word-filled Wednesday

This has been the hardest week with the massive flooding here in Cedar Rapids. It seems like last Wednesday was months ago.... Mani of mu posts this past week have had to do with the flood. I am so thankful that I have m God to lean upon! With Him, there is hope.



Please visit Amy for more WFW. Blessings!

Lord, we trust in You......Cedar Rapids flooding

"My God is changeless in His love for me and He will come and help me."-Psalm
59:10 TLB

This was the quote in my daily flip "calendar". I knew God was speaking directly to me on the morning I read it. It was the quote for June 13, the day the flood waters were high and my emotions were low. This little flip calendar is a "Mother's Prayer for Every Day of the Year," an inspirational quote of the day. Most of the quotes are little prayers dealing with motherhood. On Friday, however, it was a verse from Psalms that I needed to hear. When I looked this verse up in my bible, NLT, it sounded very different, and may not have spoken to my heart the way the TLB translation did.

God is a ever-present help in our times of need. When we come to Him, get still and quiet before Him, we can hear the gentle whispers He is always speaking to our spirits. God is always present- He never leaves. It is us that allow fear, doubt, worry, distractions, lies of the enemy, fleshly desires to drown out His sweet voice. He has already spoken so much to us in His Word- verses of hope, encouragement, love, peace.....

But, how easy it is for me to turn on the TV, watching more of the news coverage than to open my bible and pray His verses and promises. But, that is exactly what I need to do in times of trouble and trial. I must choose to quiet my heart and the voices all around me and listen to Him....to seek Him with all of my heart, mind, soul, and STRENGTH.

Jesus tells us that we will have trouble in this world. Because of the sin that Adam and Eve brought into the world, we live in a fallen world. This is a world where there are floods....a fallen world where the waters flood over their boundaries....a fallen world where homes are destroyed....a fallen world where there is cancer. There is disease. There is heartache.

If that were the end, then all would be lost. Our lives would only be as meaningful as what we could manage to do with them in the blink of an eye that we are here. But, praise God, Jesus said, "TAKE HEART, I have OVERCOME the world." Jesus has overcome the sin of this fallen world. This brings hope. This brings security. This brings comfort.

We may have to endure trials of all kinds here on this earth, but there is a day coming when He will wipe away every tear. A day when there will be a new Heaven and a new earth. A day when we receive our perfect bodies free from disease and injury.

And today, we have the peace that passes all understanding. No matter what we are enduring through, Jesus gives us rest. He says, "Come to me all you who are weary and burden laden and I will give you rest." Jesus restores our soul. He leads us beside still, quiet waters. He fills us with comfort. He brings hope of a better today.

"I will take refuge in the the shadow of your wings until the
disaster has passed."-Psalm 57:1

"Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you b name;
you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you
pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you.- Isaiah 43:1-2

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In His
great mercy He has given us new birth into a living HOPE through the
resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can
never perish, spoil, or fade..." -1Peter 1:3-4

Father, we praise You and thank You. Lord, You are the same yesterday, today and forever. Lord, we put our hope and our trust in You. We come to You, Lord, who daily bears our burdens. We cast all our care on You. Lord, help us during this time, strengthen our faith. Lord, in our weakness, You are strong. Praise You, Jesus. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen.

Cedar Rapids Flooding- Miracles Abounding!

Thank You, Father! Lord, thank You for Your mercy, Your goodness. Lord, I thank You for all of the miracles that we are witnessing during this flooding and for all of the miracles I am sure we will see in the days to come. Lord, thank You for Your outstretched arm......

Even though this has been such a trying week, we are beginning to see such glimmers of hope. When we got up Sunday morning, "things" did not look very good. But, by lunch time we had lots of good news and we are beginning to see rays of hope.

Flood waters were not supposed to recede until later this week, but have gone done significantly today. This is SUCH a miracle! Thank You, God! This means that clean up can begin. For so many, the "fear" is the NOT knowing, so just the fact that we are beginning to KNOW, even if it is heartbreaking, is better than the unknown. Now, we can roll up our sleeves, help one another, and begin cleaning up.

Pictures by Steve Graville of the Gazette

Another miracle has been the incredible outpouring of love in volunteering and helping neighbors. 23,000 had to be evacuated, but the shelters had only about 500 people. Neighbors and families opened their homes and arms to people needing a place to stay. Many businesses also paid for hotels and temporary apartments.

Thousands of sandbagers turned out to sandbag the water well and Mercy Hospital. At times, there was such an outpouring of volunteers that some had to be turned away!

Our church had a call for volunteers during services. Baskets containing the volunteer forms were completely filled.

This flood was 5 on a scale with 6 being highest. Katrina was a 6. The death toll has been 3, and we're not even sure if those are flood related deaths. That is amazing! Thank You, God for Your protection! There have not been any reports of looting.

Please continue to pray! For more miracles to praise God for, please visit Beth at A Mom's Life!

Cedar Rapids Flooding...the mourning begins....

O Lord, You are our God. We trust You. We believe You. No matter what our eyes see, we believe. You are good. You are gracious. You are our God.

Now the questions begin. My own children are asking, "Why did God do this?" I know there are many who ask, "How could God allow this?" So, now, I am praying for wisdom to talk to my children and anyone who questions.....

I only have a few moments right now, so I am going to share just a few thoughts I have had this morning.

There is such a "trickle down" affect of the flooding. Because water levels are critical, many businesses have been asked to close- car washes and laundromats. Many restaurants have closed or are serving on paper plates and not serving water. Let that sink in. Imagine if this were your family business and you depended on business to live. Because this is the weekend, many of these businesses earn most of the week's profits on the weekend. These are areas of the city that weren't flooded, but because we are only operating at 25% capacity, we are in a critical situation with conservation.

With the flooding, there were 1,000 city blocks that were flooded. I did not put in an extra zero- that was one thousand city blocks. The whole downtown area was affected. We have two hospitals (Mercy was flooded), but also the downtown area is the "hub" for the medical community. Most doctors offices- ENTs, family practices, eye clinics are all located downtown. I was thinking about our doctor's office this morning. My kids have appointments later this month, will the office be open?

Cedar Rapids has a beautiful downtown and there has been much money and energy poured into renovating the downtown area. The federal courthouse is downtown. There were new high-end apartment high rises built, parking garages, convention center, restaurants, museums, brand new YMCA building....

The waters have gone down today. One ray of hope was on May's Island. It is a little island between 1st Ave. bridge and 2nd Ave. bridge that hosts many picnics, celebrations, band concerts. Some of the water has gone down and the trees are still standing! Thank You, God!

Many neighborhoods still have 4-12 feet of water. The current is so strong that boats can not get to the homes yet.

The impact affects us all, even in small ways. Interstate 80 has 2 hour detour around the flooding. I-380 has a 3+ hour detour around flooding.

Next week would begin the city's 2 week celebration of the 4th of July- the Freedom Festival. There is the BBQ round-up, festivals in the city parks, parades..... This is such a huge thing for the city- bringing visitors from several other states. School bands and dance companies that have been practicing to perform for months.... These celebrations have brought the community together, making wonderful memories for our children.

Just starting to get a feeling of what kind of impact this will have on our city......

"He gives strength to the weary."- Isaiah 40:29

"Praise be to the LORD, to God, our Savior, who daily bears our
burdens." -Psalm 68:19

Please pray for the communities that are down river. This is just beginning for them. Coralville, Iowa City, cities in Illinois, Missouri.....

Click here for more news information. Click here for photos.

Cedar Rapids Flooding- Updated at 8 AM

Slept late this morning.....up at 4 AM yesterday and didn't go to bed until after 11PM...

Brian got home after 11. He was tired- such a long day him.....

The film footage is unbelievable. It is so sad. Watching people being rescued from their attic windows. KCRG reporter went out on boat tour with fire department. It is unbelievable. It really looks like Katrina footage. Stop signs are flooded. The boat ran into a flooded car.

The water has flooded 100 city blocks. Mercy Hospital is flooded. They had to evacuate some patients. They went to a generator for power. St. Luke's (also downtown, but on higher ground) still taking patients.

We still have water usage, but under restriction. No mail service, no bus service. They are asking people to stay off roads.

Praises- thank You, God for Angel Flight flying flood victims for free to other cities/states; thank You for all of the volunteers helping; thank You for the rescues..... thank You, Lord, for the clear skies- dry skies. No rain predicted until Sunday. I am believing that You will dry those clouds and the storm will "fizzle out" before it gets here.

Cedar Rapids Flooding-updated at 9:45 PMAs I sit and write, the thunder rolls. It reminds me of a book I love, "Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry." When I wrote earlier, my mind was all over the place. I completely forgot to pray for Brian. Right now he is stranded. He was traveling yesterday (was in Southern Illinois). He and a co-worker thought it would be faster to drive than to wait for the company plane to come back for them from New Orleans, so they made it as far as the airport, which is right outside of Cedar Rapids. Right now, because you have to cross the river to get into town, the only place to cross is I-380- all other bridges are out. So, the traffic was at a stand-still- no movement. He has not moved since 5:30 PM. All hotels were full. Nowhere to go. He is waiting it out, hoping that the traffic will start moving by 10 PM. There is a mandatory curfew which started at 9 PM. So, hopefully traffic will lighten up so that these stranded motorists can get through....

I went to the neighborhood drugstore earlier this afternoon to stock up on bottled water. Right now we are on a mandatory water restriction which means they are asking people not to use dishwasher, washing machine, showers, NO baths, don't flush toilets, etc. Only use water for drinking water. We are hoping that we do not lose water or power, but are preparing in case. Anyway, they were completely out of water. Found gallons at the gas station. Tonight I went to Target to stock up

Please, please, please continue to pray for us. Thank you for all of your encouragement and prayers, dear sisters. I will not email or comment back, but will continue to update as long as I can. We are preparing for loss of power in the next day or two. Right now we are under an mandatory water restriction. This is horrible. All day I have been watching and praying. It reminds me of Katrina when I watched the coverage. But, now it is my town and it is unbelievable. It is so much worse then what they expected. Neighborhoods under water. Water to the rooftops. The downtown is devastated (the river runs through downtown). My husband's office is there and watching the news, the water is at least 4 feet deep. Motor boats rescuing people that did not evacuate quickly enough. The science station is gone. The downtown public library gone. A furniture store that is downtown has furniture floating around inside. There is an old theater, a landmark, in town that was beautiful- the basement with props and vintage costumes are gone. The waters are still rising and not expected to crest until tomorrow morning. There are storms off and on. They are breaking records by 10 feet! And, more rain tonight.

It is not just the river water, but it is the flash flooding flooding the creeks.

9000 people have been evacuated and the shelters are filling quickly. Where do the people go? They have no homes to back to.

As the broadcaster has just said, "the water has taken over."

Lord, as I sit here in tears, I am just devastated. This is so terrible. Lord, I trust in You. I know Lord, You are Sovereign. Lord, I pray that as we walk through this trial, Your glory will reign. Lord, may those who don't know You come to You in this time for comfort. Help this community, gracious Lord.

I will update through my blog as long as we have power. I do receive your emails and am so thankful for them- they are a great encouragement. Thank you, my sisters.