In this episode I am making a break in the Serenity Prayer series in order to talk about the events we’ve experienced in the last week. It just so happens that these events emerge perfectly with our series on the Serenity Prayer. I’ve had plenty of opportunities to remember and resort to serenity prayer during our flood.
As some of you know I, and my beautiful child bride, Pat, live on Plum Island, Massachusetts. I call Pat my child bride because I’ve always liked younger women, and she is a mere 77 years old while I just turned 79 last week! Anyway, we have lived on Plum Island or about 25 years and have experienced flooding before. However, the water level in our basement ever reached more than 16 inches in depth. I built accordingly, with everything of importance at 24 inches or higher. Unfortunately, the flooding of last week came to a depth of 43 inches in our basement. We had stopped paying for flood insurance (certainly an error in judgment), as just about everything, including our heat, hot water system and most of the tools in my shop were a total loss. Ultimately, I think this was helpful for me.
I have lost most of my vision in the last two years and I am not really able to do any woodworking at all. I think the shop stood there is a monument and every time I passed it, or had to go in there, I felt a sense of loss. Now, a big decision was made for me. We ordered a dumpster and the things we couldn’t give to friends and family are now gone. They will no longer interfere with my life of writing, podcasting, and trying to help folks know the benefits of saying “yes” to God. God has helped me to accept the things I cannot change, given me the courage to change the things I can, and, hopefully, the wisdom to know the difference.
I really do feel free of that anecdotal, monkey on my back. I must admit, however, that I made myself scarce as our son, Erik, and our granddaughters boyfriend, Brady, dealt with the tools in my shop.
Today, I really do feel unencumbered by that part of my life. Thank you God!
