Pouring Rain and Providential Pain

Last night was quite an eventful night for my wife, dog, and me (as I am sure it was for many of you). I was combing through a book on providence when a sudden gust of wind came as though it was a tornado. We grabbed our trusty little weather radio and ran to the bathroom as the storm passed. Since we live on the third floor of the apartment, we would be the first to go (we're on the top floor). Fortunately, we only lost some shingles and the siding off the side of our apartment.

This event reminded me of the post Tom Ascol made a while back called "Bucket Worthy Books." When an event like this comes, you begin to think about the plundering of your property and what is most precious to you. Outside of my wife of course, my next things I would hope to save are my books and laptop. There are many I would happily feed to the storm for it to go away, but there are others I would do everything to preserve. I know that sounds funny, but my reading of books has been a sort of autobiography of my spiritual journey. Let me tell you about the most depressing day of my life here in Louisville. Actually, it was the first day in the River City, and we had about 12 people helping us move in. We had a U-Haul of course, but in the back of my truck was safely tucked away 20 boxes of books tightly tarped over for preservation purposes. It rained the entire day, but I felt safe since the books were protected by the tarp. Therefore, we moved everything else in as fast as we can, leaving the books outside. For dinner that night, I made a run to Steak-n-Shake to get food for the fam when another even larger storm arrived. Then I realized those books have to go inside ASAP. As I made it back, I pulled down the tailgate and water came streaming out of the bed of the truck. What had happened was the water built up like a little swimming pool because the tarp help it in, causing all the boxes on the bottom of the stack to become entirely waterlogged. You know what boxes are on the bottom? The heaviest. You know what makes them heavy? Reference books and complete works. As I pulled off the dry boxes off the top, I handed them to some who came to help me bring them into the apartment. By the time I made it to the bottom boxes, I was as wet as the boxes themselves, and as I picked them up, they just disintegrated into pieces. They were a total loss. We brought them into the stair well as well attempted to dry them off, only to no avail. That night I estimated about $800 worth of books were ruined. I simply sat on the top step of the stairwell and wept after a long and grueling night of moving in. I literally felt as thought I had lost some of my best friends. For those of you who are not aware of the complete works of Jonathan Edwards or Spurgeon, this may sound entirely ridiculous, but I learned a painful lesson in providence that day. I cannot say that I "rejoiced at the plundering of my property" nor did I respond to God in the Job-like way ("You give and you take away"). I was hurt, frustrated, and upset. Of all things I could lose, why these? God quickly convicted me of such selfish attitudes and reminded me that he is the one who calms the storm as well the one who sends it. Yes, it was a painful first day in Louisville, but a blessed one nonetheless. God has given my wife and me a nice apartment with which we can build a home together, an apartment that stands as a reminder of the greater treasures in life - those which cannot be blown away like shingles and siding.