Hurricane surfival kit

What a weekend!  While we were safe and snug at home, watching movies and just relaxing, people's lives were changed last weekend.  Tom and I decided to drive up north to get the walls going since this week was going to be nice and warm and sunny.  We also wanted to make sure the foundation was still covered with plastic to keep it moist.  So we set on our journey at around 11 AM Monday morning.  The highways were fine and we were making great, normal time, until we started getting a little hungry and in need of gas.  Our usual stop is Greenfield.  Gas is cheap, and there are several restaurants and a grocery store.  So we get off the highway, and come to a stop.  The roundabout was completely blocked.  Traffic up the wazoo (and no I don't know for sure what a wazoo is but I think it is a musical instrument).  Tom and I thought construction.  After spending half an hour trying to get to the gas station and then getting back on the highway, we realized that the south-bound entrance was closed off.  Getting back on the highway, there was traffic going south for at least ten miles, being diverted through Greenfield onto Rt5 south.  Hmmmm, what was going on?  Of course not watching the news, we had no idea what lay ahead.  We stopped in Brattleborro to try to use the library computer and found it closed.  But at least we got our food.  Subway for all.  Yum.  As we started further north we kept getting glimpses of the CT river.  It was churning and muddy and high.  Getting off our usual exit we decided to take a detour and watch the falls at Bellow Falls.  Usually the 100 ft drop only has a trickle going through.  We got to "downtown" and found one of the bridges closed.  Walking up to it we saw why.  The usual trickle was now a gushing, churning roaring river with waves as tall as a single story home.  The bridge was still standing but one could see that the supports were compromised.  It was quite a site!

Driving on to finally reach our destination, Tom decided to take our normal short cut, even though I was sure the road was blocked by water.  On the meadows everywhere we saw the destruction the mud and water had left.  Muddy plants, grass and trees.  My brother-in law had mentioned that Vt had lost a lot of the old covered bridges and our short cut happened to take us over a covered bridge.  It was my nemesis because to cross it you had to stay on these narrow slots and I really had to pray a lot to cross the bridge.  But I was getting much better about it.   As we approached, cars were parked along the side, people walking toward the bridge and talking with each other.  Well, I am sad to say the covered bridge was washed away by the pounding of trees against it.  It was washed down the stream.  As we stood along what used to be the road to the bridge another family approached and lamented about the loss of such a historical landmark.  They told us that the bridge was washed down stream and that they were going to look at it.  The railroad tracks on which to reach the site were safe since they were washed away upstream.  We got talking and it turns out that they live up the road from us and, wait for it...... they are home schoolers and Christians.  We had a great time, the kids got to know each other.  The boy is a year older than Logan and the girl is quite a bit younger than Tasha but that didn't matter.  They got along just fine and we exchanged phone numbers and got to know each other a little bit.  Praise the Lord, since one of my prayer was for Logan to find a friend.  The seemed to have hit it off well.

We continued driving along and found the area where the soil was completely washed out from under the railroad tracks.  There will not be any train service any time soon.  Getting to the property I was getting a little nervous, and I shouldn't have because God is always present and with us in these times, and found nothing had been moved, destroyed or touched.  The ROW is in pretty bad shape but it was like that before.  I have to think about the kind of summer VT has had.  It has been wet and cool and the ground is saturated.  There was a very small window for us to get the foundation in and we did, with God's provisions and guidance.  I was beginning to think we would never get the foundation in because the cement trucks would have gotten stuck and that would have been pretty bad.  But staying in prayer about it, God knew the timing and it was perfect.

We did not start on the walls yet.  There is still a little bit of a thinking process involved for Tom and research as to how to do this best and cheapest.  We were able to hang out with the youth and Ruthanne and Roger, wonderful couple who invited us into their home and life.  The stories that were shared were amazing.  Some of the youth were not with us because they could not get out of their house.  The bridge connecting them to the road was washed out.  Another young man had to hike down the mountain since their road has become a river.  People in Grafton and other towns are stranded and can't get out.  One of the young men stated it correctly.  "We didn't have anything really bad happen to us.  Others have it worse."  I love the resolve of the people we are meeting.  They are just going to fix it.  They aren't really waiting for help, although the National Guard and the Red Cross is helping in the devastated areas.  Everyone is out helping their neighbor.  People have lost houses down the stream.  I hope you pray for people who in some case have lost every earthly possession.  Springfield itself was not hit much.  Their dam was so low that it protected them from the flooding, but at this point it is at 79 ft, they have lowered it one foot in the last 24 hours.  The flooding at the dam is quite incredible.

As I was looking at the destruction of the roads, we drove on one which had been half way washed away, I can't help but be awed by God's power.  And this was just one day of water and rain.  I can imagine what 40 days must have done to the surface of the earth.  I certainly can see that Noah's flood was destructive.  Water has awesome power.

I remember being at sea as a little girl during a huge storm.  It was petrifying!  I hope and pray for the people up here.  There is a lot of rebuilding to be done. 

Adventure in pouring the foundation

What a beautiful day yesterday was.  We decided to take some time to get to know the area.  Sean wanted to apply at some of the ski mountains, so we took a drive around the county.  I have to say, this is such a beautiful state.  We got to go to the Lincoln family home (Lincoln's only surviving son built a house here).  What a view!!  We then strolled around town and just enjoyed ourselves.  At night we got to go and hang with youths and that was a lot of fun too, for the older kids especially.

After a two week refining process we have finally poured our foundation.  The weather has cooperated beautifully today, it was a little chilly in the morning.  We ordered the cement truck for six thirty in the morning and they sure were prompt.  Two trucks showed up and with five people working (three guys and Tom and Sean) the first truck was emptied within a half an hour.  It was interesting to watch the whole thing being poured.  So then the second truck was emptied, and as they were emptying it, I couldn't help thinking that we may not have enough cement after all.  Sure enough we ran out before we could finish and another truck was sent with only a minimum load.  By nine thirty it was all finished.  We had even poured our foundation for the pillars.  Now began the really boring part.  Watching the whole thing dry to finish it.  It worked out really well for our cement guy who was going of 46 hours without sleep.  He got to take cat naps during that time.  By 1:30 the whole process was finished.  The cement was polished and we can start building the walls tomorrow.  That is just so great.  It was nice to hear the guys talking to Tom, telling him that this was the way slabs should be built.  We have spared no expense with this thing.  The foundation is the most important thing in a house.  

It reminds me of my own foundation.  What do I rely on?  Do I trust that this house will bring me the happiness or is there more?  For me it is a great illustration on that my life should be built on the Lord God, trusting His son to take care of me, to intercede for me.  This whole process has just illustrated that so well.  

The walls are the next step and Sean is very happy that if we were to do it ourselves the cinder blocks don't have to be mortared together.  By the end of this month, who knows, we may have a basement.  Wow. 

 

Welcome to the adventure

I want to welcome you to my attempt to communicate what adventures we are having in our building process and how we are being challenged spiritually (not to mention physically).  I have had a couple of people tell me that they would love to see a blog on the whole process and so here I go.

I think that it is safe to say that it has been an interesting year.  Last year this time we were still happily dreaming on how the house would look, on what we were going to be doing with the land, and how God was going to use us up in Vermont.  Wow, did we get an awakening.  First of all, I know more about cutting down trees than I have ever wanted to know.  I have learned about tractors, backhoes and other heavy equipment, but I still have a lot to learn in that department.  As far as the house is concerned it sure changed design and form and size so many times that I was ready to throw something heavy at Tom the last time we changed the size and design.  Sean joked with us and said that every time we change the house plans he was going to charge us a dollar.  He would have made out pretty good with that!  I am glad to say that Sean will not be getting any more dollars from us as far as the house plan is concerned.  

  We are now approaching the year mark.  Cutting down the first 50 foot tree was an awesome adventure.  Having it get stuck in another tree was frustrating, but great things came out of it.  We met our neighbors and got our first taste of the Vermont way of life.  It was such a blessing for us to have help from our neighbors, both offering great, but different advise.  It showed me that even when I am frustrated God has worked it out already for my good.  I laugh because we were up in the middle of the night trying to move that tree with our own strength.  How ridiculous to try!  Isn't that what we are always doing in our own lives?  Trying to do things in our own strengths and then wondering why it doesn't work.  That tree didn't budge!  It wasn't until someone who was an experienced logger came and took the tree down the rest of the way in less than 5 minutes.  Tom learned so much from that that the next time he got a tree stuck, both Sean and him were able to take it down quickly.  When we have the right advise and are willing to listen to a master craftsman, things turn out so much better.  I am always reminded of that when I get frustrated that things aren't going my way.  It is a good lesson to learn.

  Last year this time we were still planning on building a massive 2000 sq ft house.  Then we found out that there are still taxes.  Vermont is of course cheaper than CT but, still, someone has to pay for the lousy roads that make me shutter every time my poor car hits a huge crater as we are bumping along on our little road.  So reality set in and Tom decided to go and try to beat the system!  Right, sure.  We went to designing outhouses, wet houses(for kitchen and bathroom), and individual houses for living and sleeping.  That design got shot into the wind when Logan came downstairs in the middle of the night, while we were entertaining the individual houses, crying because he wasn't feeling well.  God was so kind to show us that we were not to go that way.  So one house it was.  But would it be log, post and beam or just ordinary stick?  Ordinary stick was out.  I mean, come on, we were going to be doing this only once so we needed to go all out.  For the longest time we entertained a log home.  Our neighbor built this beautiful log home and I love log homes, so I was really sticking to that.  Tom was flexible on it.  In the end, the post and beam and stick design has ruled.  I personally would like to be living in this house by next spring if not earlier.

  Now it came to the decision on the size of house.  I really wanted a little bigger than I have here and of course was pushing for that.  Tom was praying and thinking on it as was I but my prayer was more I want this size house so please let me have it.  God is so good in His mercy to us that He doesn't just slam the door on us and say, bad, no down girl.  Through our trials we see how ridiculous we are sometimes and that He does know what is best.  In the end He grants you your wishes, sometimes.  My sister-in-law, Nichole, will confirm how devastated I was when we came up with the final size of the house of 600 sq ft.  I had to let go of my dream log home, my dream size and rely on what God had for me.  Boy that was so hard!  I struggled with that for a long time until one night, I was given the plans for the house.  We had been struggling to fit all into this small house.  We researched on the internet and came up with some really cute plans and houses.  I was inspired to plan the whole house and it came to a total sq footage of 590 or so.  I was so happy and so was Tom.  Reality is that God is so much better that that.  After giving up my own expectations I was given them right back.  That was a huge blessing, one that is hitting me just now as I write this.

  Next was the actual digging of the land to see if we could have a basement.  We were told that we are sitting on ledge.  So Tom and I planned for various ways to build the house foundation, from pillars to basement.  We were resolved to have pillars until the day we dug.  The huge equipment was brought in (very impressive) and our excavator went to work.  Boy, we had stumps and rocks of amazing size and as he dug and probed it became clear that we were able to have a walk out basement.  No ledge.  And of course the drainage around the house is quite spectacular.  There is no standing water where the house is going to go!  How great is that?  So the fact that we could have a basement meant that the house size has increased quite a lot.  As Tom was planning the foundation he kept adding on a foot here and a few inches there and now we have a house that is a nice size for our little family. The house is small enough and manageable enough for my cleaning expertise!

  Were are we at now?  Waiting on God to sell the house here in Bristol.  A few nights ago something happened that blew me away.  A couple had called and wanted to see the house.  They sounded really interested and on Thursday they came and saw it.  They liked it.  Tom and I had been praying for the right people and if possible Christians.  They walked in and we started talking and found out that the husband is a youth pastor here in Bristol and the wife works for Women of Faith.  We walked around the house in fellowship and in the end actually prayed together for 15 minutes.  They were coming back to see the house but unfortunately they were not able to afford the house after all.  It was not wasted time at all!  It had been a blessing.  After all we don't have running water on the property, nor any facilities.  So God is watching out for us here too, even though I would rather be up there permanently.

  We will be pouring our foundation this week.  Rain is causing some delay so we have had to wait patiently.  But Tom has been talking to our consultant and I think we are ready to go Tuesday.  We are blessed to have this man alongside of us during the pouring of the cement, because as the cement company stated rightly, we don't know what we are doing in this process!  So this guy has the workers and the equipment and will help along.  Next are the walls and we are hoping that he can offer us a good price on pouring the walls.  It is easier and quicker than the way we have it planned.  It has been a journey I am glad I am taking.  I have learned that I have one strong son (Sean), who can bend steel bars with his bare hands (all right not quite bare hands, he was wearing gloves).  I have a brave daughter, who has overcome her dislike and discomfort, not to mention having to do really hard work, which does not enter into her vocabulary, and a young boy, who will help when it suits him and if the work is not too hard.  God has to work on him a little more, but he has had his victories as well. He has to deal with new people and that is not easy for him.  He has to make decisions on when to say no to people and some of us are still learning that today (including myself).
  
  We still don't know what God has planned for us up there, or what we will do with our property.  But my perspective is changing all the time.  We are so blessed and I know that I can trust God personally in my future.  'Cause He has made everything, including me and my future.  I love this verse, Jer 29:11- "For I know the thoughts that I think towards you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope...".  When I looked up the word thoughts in Greek it is actually an intricate weaving, a plan but so intricately weaved for my peace (which comes from Him).  So I will keep it shorter next time, I hope.  I am looking forward to this adventure and what lays down the road.  I know that it will be all right.


  Until next time, Anne