SC Flood 2015: The Things I Take For Granted

As I stated the other night, my family has been and still is safe here in Columbia.  We never lost power as some friends did.  We didn’t lose our home and everything in it as some friends did.  We are beyond thankful and know how blessed we are.

Our minor inconveniences are nothing compared to the things others have experienced.

So, I’ve spent a good bit of time reflecting over the last few days, really about the small things that my family has experienced with the flood.  And I mentally wrote down a short list of things that I know I take for granted EVERY day.

Things like:

• Running water
  • washing your hands {I am a BIG hand-washer}
  • flushing a toilet
  • brushing your teeth and rinsing
  • washing your face in the morning and at night
  • TAKING A SHOWER
  • washing your hair
  • shaving {not just my legs, but hub’s face!!}
  • bathing your kids
  • and then bathing your kids without fear that they’re going to drink the water!
  • running the dishwasher every night
  • just washing dishes in the sink without having to boil the water first
  • going to the freezer and getting some ice cubes
  • the abundance of drinking water access
  • washing clothes {with Andrew constantly crawling around under the house and getting wet and dirty, the laundry basket grew fast}
• Just the mere abundance of water and not having to ration it out {my cooler still has water believe it or not, but it’s definitely lower than it was}
• Proper plumbing {read: updated pipes} so that they don’t break when the water comes back on  {that’s right, it happened}
• Having an easy route to work:  I have about an 8 minute longer route now…and a lot more traffic trying to get from our home to downtown.  I’m trying to look at all of these other cars as my new friends…  And 8 more minutes with my crazy kids in the mornings is going to be way-fun.
• Being able to walk through my neighborhood:  One thing I really love about where we live is the lakes…there was something about seeing the water and the peace that it brought that I absolutely loved and completely enjoyed.  All of roads/bridges on my route are closed.

I am thankful for so much.

I am thankful for all of the friends from all over who have reached out to us asking what we might need.  As much as I can I’m pointing them to the people I know who don’t have anything, or have very little.

If you can give, give.  Whether it’s a donation to the Red Cross, Harvest Hope or one of the many GoFundMe accounts that have been set up in the last several days {feel free to message me for details on this!}.  If you can send goods, send goods…look around your home and observe the things you use daily – that’s what’s needed.

I continue to ask for your prayers for our community.  So much has been lost, including lives.

Thank you again for your love, your encouragement and support and your prayers.