The Rains came down and the floods came up...AGAIN!

If you grew up in the church as we did, you probably remember the parable of the wise and foolish man put to the song "The rains came down and the floods came up". (The lyrics are pasted below incase you don't have a clue what I'm talking about.)

Well, this week, we join in this song with hundreds of other families of Northwest Arkansas, because the rains came down and the floods REALLY did come up. Which, of course, means that our townhouse in Fayetteville Arkansas has flooded for a third time.

The first time was in March of 2008. The second time was in spring/summer of 2010. And, now, the third time in April of 2011.

Please pray with us for wisdom on what to do. Living in China doesn't exactly make things easy.

You may have heard us say that THIS is our year of Jubilee! We are still proclaiming that! We will NOT let this stand in the way of what the Lord is doing in our lives. Even in this mess of a situation, he STILL receives the glory for the great things he does and is doing.

Do we deserve his goodness and grace? No.

Is there anything that we could ever possibly do to receive his blessing? No.

Does he promise to take care of us though? YES!

Does he plant desires in our hearts? YES!

Will this be our year of Jubilee? We are standing on hope that it WILL be! And even if it isn't...he still deserves our praise and will be glorified because HE is in control. Not us. Furthermore, this year of Jubilee may turn out to look completely different than what we had thought or planned. But, that kind of makes it even MORE exciting! Like and adventure.

We want to be the wise people that build our house upon the rock...not the sands that shift and colapse when the flood waters come. We WILL stand firm in this third season of flooding. We WILL stand firm on our ROCK!

The wise man built his house upon the rock
The wise man built his house upon the rock
The wise man built his house upon the rock
And the rain came tumbling down

Oh, the rain came down
And the floods came up
The rain came down
And the floods came up
The rain came down
And the floods came up
And the wise man's house stood firm.

The foolish man built his house upon the sand
The foolish man built his house upon the sand
The foolish man built his house upon the sand
And the rain came tumbling down

Oh, the rain came down
And the floods came up
The rain came down
And the floods came up
The rain came down
And the floods came up
And the foolish man's house went "splat!" [clap hands once]

So, build your house on the Lord Jesus Christ
Build your house on the Lord Jesus Christ
Build your house on the Lord Jesus Christ
And the blessings will come down

Oh, the blessings come down
As your prayers go up
The blessings come down
As your prayers go up
The blessings come down
As your prayer go up
So build your house on the Lord Jesus Christ.