"Fear not....

for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are Mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you...When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior..." Isaiah 43:1-3

I know it has been many months since I posted on our blog.....so many things have happened and the Lord has been at work through this very difficult season....this verse in Isaiah has become my theme in the last few months, and especially since the recent floods here in Middle Tennessee.

On January 5, 2010, I checked in to Cumberland Heights Treatment Center for my alcoholism, which had nearly devastated me and our family more than once. If anyone knows anyone who needs help, Cumberland Heights is one of the best in the world and I would recommend it highly. I spent three months and one week in treatment......God moved in my life in a mighty way and taught me to rely on Him through the things I learned there. His faithfulness is so powerful and reassuring. I walked into treatment dying in every way and left confident in His love and trusting that His grace is sufficient in my weakness. As I type this I have four months and five days sober. And I am living not just a new life, but just really living life for the first time. I am so grateful to God for the counselors and friends from Cumberland and for the tremendous support from family and friends outside the gates of Cumberland Heights. I am also thankful for the program of Alcoholics Anonymous. God has used that to save many lives, including mine.

Kevin was magnificent in his care for the girls and support for my recovery. He played Mr. Mom by himself for two of those three months and my mom came to help him for the first month. I am so grateful for the life God has given me and our family. The girls did fine while I was away. They got to know their daddy pretty well!

About three and a half weeks after my discharge the storms and flooding hit our area. I have never seen such devastation. The storms started on Saturday, May 1st, and the flooding came almost immediately with them. Sunday we began to realize that our house was going to take on water, so we got as many precious items out as we could, like pictures, jewelry, some clothing, and some books. We were unable to get back into our home until Wednesday afternoon, as the roads approaching our house were unpassable due to flooding. Our street runs into a road called River Road, which runs parallel to the Cumberland River. The basement of our house was completely flooded and the inside of the house got about two feet of water in it. We are renting, so that is a wonderful blessing! We lost a great deal of our possessions, but I am so grateful that nobody in our family was hurt and that we have had places to stay. We have been at his parents' house and I have gone between there and the home of my best friend who lives close by. There are so many things to see as blessings here, not the least of which is that I was needing to get rid of some stuff and not wanting to sort through it all. God took care of that for me! We are planning to rent an apartment in our town, Ashland City, and move in whenever they open. We have all been thrown off by this flood, and it has been very trying, but I am thankful to be sober and trusting God to meet all our needs. As He always graciously does.

We have received gifts and offers of help from people all over the country. God is doing for us what we can not do for ourselves.....giving us courage and hope and grace to make each day at a time. We are going to apply with FEMA in the next day or two. That assistance will be a huge help.

I am going to work on posting more regularly and will let everyone know when we get in our own place.

Grace and Peace~Kara