In this season of reflection for things we are thankful for, I have a huge list for the last few months alone. I am thankful for the large tree limb that hit our roof that woke us up at 3:30 one morning. Being awake at that time gave us the opportunity to prepare to evacuate our house due to fast rising water. I am thankful for the john boat that has been the dog’s house for many years, we were able to get it flipped over so we could get to higher ground.

I am thankful for our neighbor that gave us shelter and a place to sleep the first day. I am thankful that I was able to help twelve other neighbors get to higher ground in that same john boat. I am thankful that when I was physically exhausted, a couple of younger guys took over the rescue efforts and was able to get many more neighbors to higher ground using the john boat.

I am thankful for the Santa Fe Fire Department for giving us shelter the next day. I am thankful for our Nephew’s Mom for giving us a place to sleep for several days. I am thankful for the Texas DPS Officers who stopped several days later in front of our house and asked how they could help us. They buried our dog in the backyard for us. What a tremendous blessing they were. I am thankful for my brother for giving us a place to sleep for a couple of weeks.

I am thankful for the many people from my work, our church and distant churches that came to remove things from our house and gut the walls. I am thankful for our insurance company that paid us our full amount to get our house rebuilt and replace what we lost. I am thankful we found the perfect Contractor with an awesome crew to rebuild our house.

I am thankful for all the people who gave us what we needed from clothes to money. I am thankful for the people who took what clothes we could salvage to clean them and store them. I am thankful for my coworker who gave me his truck to use for as long as we needed since we lost our vehicles.

I am thankful for our dear friends who gave us full use of their house to live in for the last couple of months. They even allowed our three cats to roam their house and our dog to live in their backyard. They even spent several days cleaning up our yard. I am thankful for the many, many prayers on our behalf. I am thankful that God has taken care of our family every step of the way. I see His hand at work every day.

I am thankful that we will be moving back into our house in a few days. We will be camping inside on air mattresses but we will be back home! Our journey continues but we know we are loved.

I pray God will Bless each and every one who stepped up to help us in so many ways.