Blessings Upon Blessings

I don't even know where to start. My mom about covered it all in her Facebook post. I cannot express the gratitude that I feel this week.

Anyone who knows me knows that I don't like to ask for help. I'd rather do things on my own even if I know I'll probably end up with terrible back pain, or just be plagued by extreme stress. I don't like to be a burden.

This time it was different. This time I knew we needed help. When we joined our Life Group at church our friend Josh, who is one of our leaders said, "This group is family. We're here for each other no matter what." You know what? That was put to the test. Josh posted in our group making sure everyone was okay. As soon as I said that we had been hit, and one of our other families posted the same we were getting texts, messages, calls and everyone wanting to know what they could do to help?

We had at least one person from our group who was planning to come with a chainsaw. Others were going to stop by and see what they could do to help. Just after 9 on Sunday morning a couple who is dear to me showed up with chainsaw and manpower. Jenn wrapped me in a hug the minute I opened the door. They got to work while I got the boys settled. Jacob and I headed out and there was another man there with them as well. As far as I knew he was with them or was someone from church I just didn't recognize. He had a chainsaw and was just a busy beaver. At one point he was next door helping cut huge limbs there as well. As quickly as he appeared, he was gone. I found out that he wasn't with them. He was just a random guy who came from out of town to help. He didn't know us, but he stopped to help. Angel on Earth is what he was.

Throughout the morning many people from Life Group showed up to lend support. To give me hugs (Hugs are like my love language). You have no idea what a hug can do. They offered food, shelter and really anything we needed. We even had a couple show up when we were almost finished. They were sent by another family in our group!

The huge amounts of debris were moved to the curb, and everyone started to leave to go help others. That work that could have taken hours took an hour! And although we still have much work to be done, that was an amazing blessing.

All day long we were blessed. My father-in-law came over to help. He mostly surveyed our damage and was able to give tips and advice when dealing with insurance. It really gave me peace of mind. Before he left we walked through our neighborhood. It was the first time I'd left the yard. No words for the damage we saw.

My great friend, Leslie and her family stopped over for moral support. They gave us a small generator. We didn't get to use it, but the gesture was incredible. They even left us a huge case of water.

Our pastor and Josh came by in the afternoon as well, just to check on us and make sure we didn't need anything.

Another friend who used to live here and go to our church stopped by. More hugs. More selfless offers. These little moments just made my day.

By mid-afternoon I was cold and feeling tired and gross. I ended up going to the Y to shower and dry my hair. I was also able to charge my phone a bit more there too. One of the workers let me plug it in her office so that no one would take it.

I had a text offer from someone at the church asking if we needed a warm supper delivered. While I declined because I had already promised the boys McDonald's, my heart was warmed by them thinking of us.

My phone was literally blowing up all day long with offers of help. I couldn't even reply to every single person (so if I missed you, I swear I didn't do it on purpose). I just couldn't keep up and was trying to keep my phone charged! Some friends from far away insisted on sending us a gift card for a meal too.

After our McDonald's supper we did our Countdown to Christmas activity. Game night, which turned into game night by candlelight. I'd like to say it was fun, but exhaustion had set in. I think the boys mostly enjoyed it. After that, we just sat on the couch for about an hour and a half freezing under blankets.  (We WERE offered many times a warm place to stay, but I declined.) Sometimes just being home is easier.

We were playing a guessing game in the bedroom around 8 and I had finally accepted that we weren't getting power back that night and that the boys would more than likely be sleeping with me again. About 8:15 we hear a "BEEP!" I think we all just sat there for a minute trying to figure out what we heard before Daniel yelled, "The Christmas tree is on!" I've never been happier to have heat and light. I wanted to yell thank you out the door at the top of my lungs to the linemen who worked hours on end to fix the power lines.

School was canceled in Taylorville yesterday. I asked Jacob if  he would take a personal day so I could get more figured out with insurance.

The night before I had put out a request asking if anyone could pick car seats up for me at Target on Monday. SIX people offered. I was blown away. This is something I'd normally not request help with because I COULD have gone, but it saved me probably an hour and a half of time, and I was able to accomplish more. I was able to make phone calls. I was able to go get groceries to restock the fridge.

The car seats were delivered to me. The same friend who loaned me their van last year, loaned it to me again for the next couple of days. Instead of loaning me their car she gave me their van because she thought it would be easier on my back. That fact the people stop to think about these things just amaze me.

Today I was blessed with brownies delivered by a friend. I was blessed by insurance who totaled my van but offered us quite a bit more than I had expected to get. Jacob was given a gift card to Angelo's by one the the principals at his school.  So after another somewhat crazy day we were able to go grab supper...and our total came out almost exactly to the amount of the gift card!

On top of all of that I was able to help bless a few people who were impacted by the tornado. It wasn't much, but what I have learned is that even the smallest gesture can make the biggest difference in someone's day. I think my favorite part of the day was after learning that our neighbor boy needed a booster seat, I put out a request on Facebook. In less than one hour someone had purchased a seat, and I was able to pick it up at WalMart. In the meantime another person sent money for it, and so that money will instead get donated to Missions for Taylorville. Getting to deliver the booster seat was the best part! I yelled, "Merry Christmas!" and she was just blown away. She started to thank me, but I told her about the FB request and she was floored.

We always see the bad in the world, but I have seen so much good in the midst of devastation. I have watched this community band together. Everyone is helping everyone else. It's so sad to see the destruction ,but it brings a smile to my face to see all of the help people are getting.

God has just poured blessing upon blessing on us this week. I've seen his hand in it all. I didn't always love it here, but have for awhile. This storm has just confirmed my love for Taylorville and I'm proud to live here!