Kindness

With the flood waters subsided, the work to clean up has been constant.  Some families have lost everything. I am trying to go through my kid's clothes to pull things that are halfway decent in order to donate them to some families I know who are in that position. At this point the families don't care about the condition of things, they just need clothes on their backs.

Today my husband returned from the home of an elderly couple.  The flood filled their basement, ruining everything from sentimental items to the washer and dryer. The woman told the story of how a neighbor, whom they have never been friendly with, came over during the storm uninvited, and brought a powerful water vacuum.  This neighbor spent hours in the basement of this elderly couple, walking in the filthy water and pumping it out of the house.  The lady was brought to tears of embarrassment remembering how she would get frustrated by the fact that this same neighbor could never seem to get his shrubs cut, and the long arms of the branches would hang into their driveway and make it hard to park the car and made their house look unkempt.  She was so touched by the kindness of this neighbor, that he would come over unasked and would not take any money was such a shock to her, and a joy.

And another neighbor came by during the worst of the flood and admonished them to take photos for insurance, and she replied, "Some people have lost so much... I'm an old woman, and the items in our basement weren't going to be used anyway.  Leave the insurance money to all those people who have lost so much, because really, we didn't lose anything we needed."

Its a crazy thing that trauma and bring out the best and the worst in people. But its breathtaking to see people at their best, isn't it?  Blessing to everyone!  Psalm 46:1