one inch high and rising

Mark and I were on Skype with our supervisor in the US

when our kids opened the door at 9:30 last night.

"Sorry to interrupt," they said, "but the house is flooding."

I turned around in my chair, and sure enough, 

12 inches behind me stood a pool of water that had silently ebbed in through the door.  

That Skype call ended quick.  (Sorry, J!)

water seeping into the study

Earlier in the evening heavy rain had begun, accompanied by impressive lightning

 and thunder that seemed to clap right over our roof.

Elise had come in to where we were reading and said,

"I need some help out here." 

The driving rain was pelting through windows, and our kitchen counters and floor were drenched.

We mopped it up pretty quickly, and joined our neighbor in the driveway to watch the water flow by in the street outside.  Though it lapped at our gate, it didn't come in.

So we had closed things up for the night and proceeded with our scheduled Skype

to the sound of falling rain outside the window,

unaware that the water was rising higher than it's ever risen in our neighborhood.

outside our front door, shoes float around our neighbor's vehicle

When the kids interrupted our call,

the water had filled our driveway, 

floating door mat, shoes and trash can in our driveway

and was seeping through the front door into the living room.

We now know the low spots at our house:

our study and our bedroom.

not so much water, but enough to make a mess!

(Thankfully it's not the bodega, Becky and Lorine!)

Water also seeped from the sewer up through the shower drain in the bathroom,

into our study.  Not the pleasantest of smells.

When the water on the street outside your house is this high

both the above photos taken from our deck

 there's really not much you can do about draining your floors.

(It was just an inch or two inside, so very minor water, guys!)

Michael did rig up his little water pump, 

and filled buckets full of dirty water!

(He dumped them down the shower until we realized that the sewage was backing up...)

We gave thanks for an upstairs, 

and took our mattress up to camp out on the landing for the night.

This morning the water levels had dropped,

so we made breakfast around the piles of furniture staying dry in our kitchen,

and got to work emptying rooms, sopping up water, and getting things clean and dry.

We're giving thanks today...

that our house doesn't usually flood,

for health and strength to clean up the mess,

for running water to clean (it was shut off last night)

and for home and safety and all of God's goodness to teach us more thankfulness 

even through a flood.

The LORD sits enthroned over the flood; 

the LORD sits enthroned as king forever.

Psalm 29:10

water under the bridge

Saturday afternoon here in Davao the rain began to fall.

And it wouldn't stop.  All through the night,

into Sunday morning, rain continued to descend.

 As the tide rose, too,

the Davao River began to swell and flood,

and some of the houses like these below were swept away,
devoured by the surge.

Walls from other homes at the river's edge were ripped away,

leaving a cutaway view inside, 

and for those families, an alarming view of the rushing river below.

Several local neighborhoods were flooded.

Mark captured these photos as we rode home from church yesterday.

 People hauled their belongings out to drier land, 

anxiously wondering how much higher the waters would rise.

Down side streets we glimpsed Filipinos wading through waters up to their chest.

 Over 30,000 Davao residents evacuated their homes this weekend,

often leaving one family member behind to protect their possessions from looters.

 As we crossed over the Davao River yesterday,

crowds lined the bridge, apprehensively watching the rushing river.

We're thankful that the rain finally did stop later on Sunday,

and when Mark ran through some of these same neighborhoods Monday morning, 

he found that the water had receded significantly.

**but in waking during Monday night I again heard the rain falling,
and now, Tuesday morning, it continues to pour.
Join us in praying for the families who have lost their homes, 
and for grace to those around us who are working to practically help them...

Muddy Michael, second from right...

We've had no flooding in our street,

but all that mud sure did make for a colorful bunch of Ultimate Frisbee players on Sunday afternoon!