a week ago tonight...

I came home to a quiet house after a long day of work. Pete was working , so my plan was to accomplish a few little projects around the house after I ate dinner. Things like calling a college friend. Maybe doing a little cleaning. Perhaps finishing up The Gifts of the Jews. Or maybe all three.

My plans were dramatically altered when, after dinner, newspaper and too much Seventh Heaven on the ABC Family channel (why does that show suck me in? It's so silly!), I got up from the couch and stepped out into our basement hallway to go upstairs. Squish went the carpet under my feet. I had a glass of water in my hand...maybe I tipped it and spilled some? Another step. Squish. By then, I'm in front of the door to our laundry room and panic quickly sets in. Shoes are floating around the bottom of our freezer. A few items that are normally upright have been knocked over and lying in a pool of water - not a puddle but a pool. A pool that covers the entire laundry room and under my feet.

My heart pounding and my mind racing ("I'm alone. What will I do? Will insurance cover this? Is our basement ruined? We don't have the money for this! AHHHHHHH!!!!) I know the culprit so I go upstairs and sure enough, the toilet on our second floor is running. And running. And running. It has been this way for more than an hour. And it's coming up through the drain in our basement. It's happened once before, but we caught it in time (and figured out the problem after an hour of baling water and a call to the city). Just days before, we'd even talked about how we needed to call a plumber to come look at the basement drain. It was on the to-do list...

I know Pete's completely out-of-pocket (Tuesday night is ropes course night for his kids) so I leave a desperate and somewhat tearful message for my dad. And then another tearful message for Pete. And I start rescuing items from our basement floor in our carpeted rec room. Things like the computer. The PlayStation. The surround sound system speakers. Water is seeping under the wall from the laundry room and soaking the carpet. I think I'm on the verge of hyperventilating. I know our neighbor, Bob, is home. Would he be able to help if I can't get ahold of my dad? I call my dad again and reach him. Dad to the rescue! We harness the power of our shop vacs and suck up water - lots and lots of it. My dad is a saint, especially when he's emptying gallons of water outside in the rain.

Pete comes home around 10:30 and continues to clean until about 2:00 a.m. He is a rock (and he should be - that's his name, right?) I appreciate his calm demeanor, even when I want him to freak out along with me. :)

Long story short: we apparently have tree roots in our drain out to the sewer. The kind man from Penning Plumbing took care of them on Wednesday, but said it will probably continue to be a problem - a hazard of living in an older neighborhood with mature trees and old pipes (that aren't PVC). We've ripped out all of the carpet from the basement - and discovered what we think is mold on the back. So perhaps this is a blessing in disguise. We've also discovered signs that this may have happened before, perhaps in the last several years. Funny the things people don't mention when they're selling a house. And no, NONE of this is covered by our insurance (apparently you need a provision for floods caused by drain back-ups. We don't have that provision. Grrr...) But we've found an inexpensive option for carpet replacement, the paneling seems fine, and we wanted to put vinyl at the bottom of the stairs anyway. So we'll do a nice little remodel - a little earlier than planned, but the results will be worth it.

I'll end this very long post with a few pictures of June 6 and its aftermath...some of them turned out blurry and I don't have the photographic finesse to capture the "magnitude" of the water.

God is on the move

Several weeks ago, I posted a request for prayer for Taylor University. On April 26, four students and a staff member were killed in a tragic car accident on I-69 as they were returning to the Upland campus. According to reports, a young woman from Caledonia had been seriously injured. Ever since, I had been following her progress on a blog her sister continually updated. There are several people at work close to the VanRyn family, and although I don't know them, those connections, as well as the TU connection, brought them close to my heart.

As I'm sure you've heard, there was a stunning announcement this week that there had been a misidentification of students at the scene of the accident and, in fact, Laura VanRyn had died and it was Whitney Cerak the VanRyns had been caring for during the last month. It's made national (and in some cases, international) headlines since Wednesday when this discovery was revealed.

There aren't words that adequately express the sorrow and the joy these two families are experiencing. One of my co-workers, whose daughter was a close friend of Laura, said it best: "God is on the move." And He is. This story has touched hearts around the country and God is using it to bring people to Him. The blog address has been published nationwide, and it's been incredible to see the comments on it from people praying for these families - from alumni to complete strangers. Some have indicated that it's prompted them to open a Bible, return to church, seek Jesus. God is truly on the move.

As a Taylor alum, these events have touched me deeply - Taylor truly is a family and while I don't know these girls, I've experienced much of what they've experienced on campus (Whitney Cerak lived in the same dorm I did). It's made me realize - again - how blessed I am to have gone there and to call myself a member of that family.

Here's where you can read more:
www.lauravanryn.blogspot.com
www.chronicle-tribune.com (Marion (Indiana) Chronicle-Tribune - they've had great coverage of the events, from the night of the accident until now)
www.taylor.edu

done!

The cold, rainy weather derailed our plans to work outside yesterday, so we took advantage of inside time to organize the basement and to finish ripping down wallpaper. I'm pleased to report that our side entry is now devoid of wallpaper! Some pictures:

Before: Pink striped wallpaper with a lovely birdhouse border

The "after" pictures are rather boring. Up next, sanding down the seams from the wallpaper underneath (on the advice of Pete's mom, we won't be taking off that layer - don't want to damage the plaster underneath), priming and then paint!

We've been working on some other household projects lately. A few weeks ago, we removed our yucky shower doors - and they were yucky. Here's what Pete found underneath:

The mildew cleaned up very easily - Pete saved some of the clean up for me since he knew what satisfaction I'd receive from it. And I did - it felt good!

And a few more pictures for good measure:

The Anderson Easter Egg Hunt in our backyard

Pete and the nieces dancing

Gavin helping my mom open her birthday presents

My dad and sleepy Gavin (at their house - I think we were celebrating Kevin's birthday)

new life

Mars Hill had a baptism celebration today - I love these services. I'd go to all three services if I could just to hear all of the incredible stories. We basically have a hot tub on the stage (with a camera projecting the tub and its occupants up on the screen so everyone can see what's going on). Those being baptized line up, climbing into the water with the baptizing pastors, as well as friends or family members who will take part in this beautiful thing with them. Parents help baptize their children. Friends help baptize their friends. A few teens had their d-group leaders in the tub with them. A newlywed couple was baptized together as one way to bind their new life together (both had been baptized as infants). And while they are being baptized, someone reads their testimony. It's moving and joyful and wonderful. There are tears and smiles and cheers.

I was baptized as a baby in the Reformed church, and I know that it's something I need to do now as an adult. I just need to get past the whole "in front of everyone" thing that scares me off from doing it, which is just silly. So maybe next time we have a baptism celebration at church, I'll be there in my shorts and T-shirt, carrying a towel up on the stage and awaiting my turn to make a public proclamation of my love for and faith in Jesus, and the way He continually moves in my life.

We had a fun adventure in home ownership yesterday. I came downstairs to continue laundry and noticed water on the floor - more than usual when I do laundry. Our washing machine empties into a drain in the floor, except it wasn't draining. I turned off the washing machine, but the puddle was turning into a small lake. Pete and I began bailing water to avoid a major catastrophe - between the two of us, we carrried what seemed like gallons and gallons of water out the door. We called the city and they promised to send someone out to check things out. On a bailing break, I went upstairs and discovered the toilet running. I jiggled the handle like you should and it stopped. And in the basement, the water began to recede. Very strange. The sewer guy came and checked the water lines just to be sure there was no problem. And our crisis ended. I had been envisioning a crazy emergency plumbing bill and who knows what else (I tend to immediately think of the worse case scenario for every situation), but it ended with no problem.

I've now successfully avoided the work I was trying to do (transcribing an interview for our Summer 1 catalog - I hate transcribing). More to come soon...

please pray for Taylor University

Four students and one staff member from Taylor University, my alma mater, were killed in a terrible car accident Wednesday evening. They were traveling back to the Upland campus from Fort Wayne when a semi crossed the median and hit the van they were in. Several other students and staff members were injured, some critically. One of the critically injured is from Caledonia. Ironically, Taylor's new president is scheduled to be inagurated today.

The TU community is extremely close-knit (the campus is small/the student body is around 1900 students) and this has deeply impacted students and alumni. It has been amazing to read the thoughts and prayers of people all over the world on Taylor's message board - the body of Christ is a beautiful thing.

Here's a link to news about the accident:
http://www.taylor.edu/community/news/accident_04-26-06.htm

random thoughts

No pictures yet....I can't figure out how to download them from the camera (Pete showed me once, but it was awhile ago and my attempts aren't working). Soon, I promise.

I had the privilege of attending Pete's Employee of the Month celebration today. It's really a neat thing that they do - there were some representatives from HR there and Pete's co-workers had the opportunity to share the qualities they admire in him. And Pete works with a fantastic team of people - I'm so glad he does. I can provide him with support up to a point - I don't ever truly know what he experiences on a day-to-day basis, but they do and they are a great support for each other. I'm very proud of him and the work he does - God has truly blessed me with an amazing husband.

We have our first non-cosmetic house update tomorrow: an electrical service upgrade. We're getting a new breaker box (ours is a Federated Pacific brand - not known for its safety) and breaking off some rooms to new circuits. Currently, it seems like half the house is on one circuit and we blow one in particular fairly regularly - it affects the basement, the kitchen, breakfast nook and living room. After tomorrow, we'll have a safer house. :) And it paves the way for a new furnace (also needed - our current one is about 37 years old and on its last legs) and possibly air conditioning.

As I write this, I'm watching "Children of the Shoah" on PBS, a documentary about the Holocaust. There really aren't words to describe it - it's both riveting and disturbing and so important to be reminded of.

Once again, pictures coming soon!

Long time, no blog

We are terrible at this blogging thing!

No pictures to post this time (and sometimes blogs can get boring without them), but just a few general updates for all 3 people who read this. (Hi Rachel!) :)

To brag a little on my husband, he was named Wedgwood's Employee of the Month for April. While he doesn't get a prime parking spot or something like that, he does get some (I think) well-deserved recognition for his work with hurting kids.

The nicer weather has stalled work on removing our wallpaper. It's much more fun to be outside working on the yard instead of tearing down wallpaper. I hope to get to a little more of that this weekend. Pete is of the opinion that we take down the primed-over layer of wallpaper that's under what we're currently taking down. While it doesn't thrill me, I think he's right. Maybe we'll be done by the time fall rolls around.

I don't want to make any empty promises, but maybe we'll soon post pictures of our weekend: Pete's family is coming to celebrate his birthday on Saturday, we'll be at my grandparents' house on Sunday and taking in a Detroit Tigers game on Monday. Fun!

Sometimes I like my job

Well, actually, I like my job most of the time. But I really like it on days like we had on Tuesday. One of the "perks" of working for Family Christian Stores is that authors and artists occasionally pay a visit when they're in town. This week, it was Donald Miller, author of Blue Like Jazz, a very hot book right now, especially among people my age. And while it may be trendy to read his books, I appreciated and resonated with a lot of what he had to say in BLJ, and I especially appreciated his authenticity and humility in his little talk to us at the corporate office.

In other Anderson news, work begins tomorrow on taking down wallpaper in our side entryway. It's currently papered with pink stripes, with a birdhouse border on top. Not only are the pink stripes not quite my taste, but it's also in pretty bad shape. Plus the woodwork has seen better days. It's amazing the things you don't notice when you first fall in love with a house! But the day we took possession and walked in, we realized that the house needed a bit more work than we originally thought. Thank goodness it's mostly cosmetic. If we can find the charger for our digital camera, I hope to take and post pictures of the process.

Pete did an amazing job on our front entryway. He put in the floor, in addition to helping to paint trim and painting the cupboard and closet doors. Plus he didn't lose his patience when putting the doors back on proved to be a more arduous task than we thought it would be. I admire his level head and sense of calm in situations like that. I get frustrated and want to give up; he sticks to it and gets it done. One of his many admirable qualitites!

I'm Turning Into My Dad

Today we went grocery shopping and, to my delight, chocolate milk and Pepsi were both on sale.

Last night, Amy and I went over to Phil and Dawn's to get the rest of our stuff out of their basement and then we hung out for a little bit. They told us of something that Annie (the 6 year old) was overheard saying - "My parents are different than other parents because they don't live apart." It's a sobering reminder of the shift that has occured in what an average family looks like.

A Beginning and an End

After church we went on a road trip to make two important visits.

The first was to the hospital in Holland to visit our new niece, Anne Hope Meyering. She was born yesterday and is just the most precious little thing. Amy's brother, Kevin, and his wife, Katie, now have a boy and a girl. From what I've been told, he didn't seem all that interested when he saw her in the hospital but is really cute when he says, "baby Anne Hope."

The second was to a Funeral Home in Gobles to attend the wake of my grandmother's brother Charles. It was not so much a sad time but a celebration of his life. Uncle Charles wanted to enjoy life and those around him couldn't help but enjoy it too. He would have turned 95 in April.