"To bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair." Isaiah 61:3

The Burckhard Family

The Burckhard Family

Thursday, July 21, 2011

One Month Ago.....

Wow, cannot believe my last blog post was one month ago. So much has happened in our little community since the historic flooding of the Mouse River...it is just devastating! Over 12,000 people displace, over 4,000 homes inundated--and of those homes over 800 condemned & over 2,000 severely damaged. However, the mind-boggling thing is that only a couple hundred people ended up in the shelters. Isn't that amazing? The rest of the community took in over 11,800 people into their homes. That just speaks volumes about the hearts of our people!

The devastation is beyond heart wrenching! But, the rebuilding has begun with all of those homes being gutted to the studs. The piles of peoples' belongings are stacked high on the boulevards--sometimes higher than the houses. Oh, and the smell....beyond words.

We decided as a family that we would like to share our home with a family who has a child with a disability, preferably one that uses a wheelchair, as our home is on one level. So, we offered our home to a family who was separated in two towns and has a beautiful little girl with a disability. We then moved out to our trailer (cavin, as Grace calls it) at Rice Lake. We have been so blessed to have two places that survived flooding, so we felt called to share one of them with a family in need.

For us, it has been a sweet time of making family memories. The main reason I haven't posted is that we just got internet yesterday. Until then we were in a dead zone out in the country--no phone, internet, or cable. Now, that we got internet....we will feel a bit more connected. But, we have done so much more as a family without everyone being "plugged" in to their electronics!

I will be posting a few catch-up posts next week because tomorrow we head out for our annual Milwaukee trip. We weren't going to go this year, but getting a break from our cabin sounds mighty appealing right now. :)

Thank you for your prayers! Minot will need them for many months to come...We all know it is devastating, but the community will bounce back and be stronger for it; it's just going to be a long haul.

Blessings, Paula

One Month Ago.....

Wow, cannot believe my last blog post was one month ago. So much has happened in our little community since the historic flooding of the Mouse River...it is just devastating! Over 12,000 people displace, over 4,000 homes inundated--and of those homes over 800 condemned & over 2,000 severely damaged. However, the mind-boggling thing is that only a couple hundred people ended up in the shelters. Isn't that amazing? The rest of the community took in over 11,800 people into their homes. That just speaks volumes about the hearts of our people!

The devastation is beyond heart wrenching! But, the rebuilding has begun with all of those homes being gutted to the studs. The piles of peoples' belongings are stacked high on the boulevards--sometimes higher than the houses. Oh, and the smell....beyond words.

We decided as a family that we would like to share our home with a family who has a child with a disability, preferably one that uses a wheelchair, as our home is on one level. So, we offered our home to a family who was separated in two towns and has a beautiful little girl with a disability. We then moved out to our trailer (cavin, as Grace calls it) at Rice Lake. We have been so blessed to have two places that survived flooding, so we felt called to share one of them with a family in need.

For us, it has been a sweet time of making family memories. The main reason I haven't posted is that we just got internet yesterday. Until then we were in a dead zone out in the country--no phone, internet, or cable. Now, that we got internet....we will feel a bit more connected. But, we have done so much more as a family without everyone being "plugged" in to their electronics!

I will be posting a few catch-up posts next week because tomorrow we head out for our annual Milwaukee trip. We weren't going to go this year, but getting a break from our cabin sounds mighty appealing right now. :)

Thank you for your prayers! Minot will need them for many months to come...We all know it is devastating, but the community will bounce back and be stronger for it; it's just going to be a long haul.

Blessings, Paula