We hiked across the creeks yesterday, passing the Suburban along the way, to hitch a ride into town with a neighbor and get some supplies. The water had come down to about a third of the level that it was when the bank collapsed under our vehicle. I'm thankful for a wonderful wife and kids who have pulled together to help me get supplies across the creeks and cleanup the mess of the storm, with amazing attitudes.

Our prayer now is that God will provide some means of transportation for us to get to town in time to minister on Sunday. It should be a beautiful day, with lots of people out, and I don't want to miss the opportunity of reaching out to them with the Gospel.

"Wanna have some fun," my husband, Jared, asked me as the storm that had been going on since late last night seemed to be subsiding. We always check out our property line and surrounding areas after storms to assess any damage. It is often a muddy, slippery drive, but relatively safe. There have been a few times that we didn't make it back up the hill and had to go on a short walk. "Sure!" I said as I struggled to slip on my rubber boots.

We got in the car and checked out the area up next to the cow pens. It was a little slippery, but not bad. There were several small creeks running through the property, but they weren't any problem for our Suburban. We drove out the gate to check out the creek that was just outside.

We drove up to the creek and stopped, we were discussing how deep we thought it was when suddenly we found ourselves out in the middle as the bank collapsed. We were out in the middle of a very fast flowing, very deep creek. The Suburban started to fill with water. We quickly opened the door and rolled down windows, so we could get out and tried to figure out what was important to grab. Jared got his wallet and I grabbed my purse and phone. Oh, and a bottle of RC Cola. (We thought that it might be helpful to have something to drink and a some carbohydrates, if we were stuck for a few days.) Though we searched frantically, we could never find Jared's phone. It must have fallen down by the floorboards. Jared got out and I climbed over the seat to get out his door.

We tried to go back towards our house, but the water quickly rose up to Jared's armpits and was flowing very fast. We had to go to the other side. Jared carefully made it to land and I followed. I tripped and was swept about 30 feet downstream but made it safely to shore with Jared's help and encouragement.

We were both soaking wet and on the wrong side of the creek. We walked upstream looking for an easier place to cross. The creek was very wide and flowing fast. We walked until it was dark, but never found a safe place to cross. We were concerned about the boys, but we had no way to contact them. We kept praying for wisdom and at every place we tried to cross, God directed us to turn around. It started raining again. Finally, it was too dark to see anymore so we made our way to a neighbor's house. They weren't home, but we checked all the doors and windows. Everything was locked. We were cold and wet and starting to feel like we were getting sick. There was nothing else we could do, so we decided to break an already broken window and climbed inside. (We knew the neighbors and have since communicated with them about what happened. They were glad that we were safe and had a dry place to stay.)

We made it inside and started a fire with the firewood they thankfully had there, hung our clothes to dry and wrapped up in blankets. We got a little sleep, but mostly shivered, prayed, and thanked God for a dry place to rest till the creeks would dry enough for us to get across. We prayed for the boys to be safe and to be comforted. We prayed for our ministry in Los Molinos and the sweet people that we have met.

God brought to mind the verses that I had learned to music from Isaiah 43, "Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine. When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee. For I am the LORD thy God,"

At first light, we slipped on our still wet clothes and shoes and headed towards the creek to see if it was passable. It had gone way down and we were able to safely cross.

We made it back home, cold and sore, but safe and with RC Cola in hand (Yes, we were making "Me and My RC" jokes). As we came up the hill, one of the boys shouted and we saw them up another hill with a rope in hand. They were planning to go looking for us and had a rope to rescue us. We were so happy to see them safe and sound and they were happy to see us. God kept us all safe.

Enoch was convinced that we were playing some sort of test to see if they would be okay overnight without us. Ezra thought we had made it across the creek and couldn't make it back, so we probably stayed a night in a motel. Ezekiel wasn't sure what happened, and EdWord had cried himself to sleep.

We are all safe. We have enough food for a few days and another neighbor is going to give Jared a ride to town in a few days. I don't know what is ahead of us concerning a vehicle, but God has always provided in the past, and we are excited to see what He has provided for us.

Living by faith is not easy, but it is so comforting to know that no matter what comes our way, we have a loving Heavenly Father Who cares for us and provides our needs.

We had our first casualty on our farm today. Our favorite chicken, Henrietta, choked and died today. The boys are making her a tombstone now.

The four boys' different responses to the chicken's death:

Enoch (the chicken farmer): "I did everything I knew to do to save her. She was my favorite. I hope we don't lose the rest this way. I can't afford that."

Ezra (announcing the status every minute or so before she died): "She's still with us."

"Enoch's doing CPR." "She's not gonna make it." "The chicken's gone. She's not with us any more." "Can I paint a tombstone for her?" "Can we have a funeral for her next Tuesday?"

Ezekiel: "Do we get to eat the chicken now?"

EdWord: "Can we make a feather duster with her feathers?"

My smart alec son, when told that we needed to turn off the movie and get a good night's sleep, quoted Scripture at me. He said, "We shouldn't because I Thessalonians 5:6 says, "Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober."

My children keep me laughing.

Younger brother: "What does 'fame' mean?"

Older brother: "It's when you're an idiot in front of people. Like in football - everyone talks about you being sweaty and running across a field."

It is a surreal feeling to be standing in my driveway checking messages on my phone and to suddenly feel a cow breathing down my neck, having come to see what's going on.

#farm #ranch #roamingCattle

Son, marry a woman who willingly stands beside you to hoist a hot water heater into place. However, don't assume she enjoys plumbing (even a little). Chances are, she just wants a hot shower before Thanksgiving.

Now that we've been in California for a year, I am beginning to understand the connection between discouragement and cloudy days. Cloudy days never bothered me when we lived in Washington, where cloudy days were the norm. That's what it must be like for sinners who are lost in sin: they don't know what it is like to have the Son shine all the time on their lives, so their sin doesn't bother them.