Floods of 2008

I, like everyone else in the state of Iowa, feel just devastated by these floods. We are one of the lucky ones considering that our house is completely dry. TrueNorth (Josh's office) took on water and they are still under mandatory evacuation. Josh was able to get into the office a little bit yesterday and check out the damage and he said that TrueNorth was one of the lucky ones. They probably only had 2-3 inches in the Employee Benefits area and LOTS of water in the basement (where Accounting is located). I really feel helpless through all of this. My heart just hurts for the thousands of people that lost absolutely everything. I know many of you have seen pictures on TV or in the paper, but you seriously can't understand the true devastation until you see it firsthand with you very own eyes. Josh and I were out on a date for our anniversary last night and after dinner all I wanted to do was drive over I-380 and see for myself. Total and utter devastation. But as you have heard over and over, this is Iowa and we are proud of it. We will pull together like Iowans do and we will rebuild our community - neighbors helping neighbors.

The Iowa City/Coralville area, just about 20 miles south of us, is getting hit just as hard if not worse than Cedar Rapids did. This is just as hard for us as Josh and I called Iowa City/Coralville our home for 7 years of our adult life. The most devastating part of this for me is the absolute destruction of our beloved former church Parkview. I don't think I can put into words for you what this church means to me... I really grew as a person at this church. I guess you could say maybe that I really formed my true identity as a Christian there and matured in my faith. This is where Josh and I spent most of our dating/engaged/early married relationship learning how to build our relationship on Christ. We dedicated Makenna to the Lord at this church. We built incredible, life-long friendships at this church. The people at Parkview are truly amazing and they let that shine this week in their efforts to try and save the church. Unfortunately despite their superhuman attempts to save the building, it is now gone. With all that said, I know Parkview and I know they are staying strong. They see this as God's will and that God will use this for good. They look for every opportunity to share God's good news and they will continue to do this even through their own devastation. They know that God is sovereign and that He will give them the strength to get through this tragedy. Please keep Parkview Church in your prayers.

Two of the pastors were allowed in with a CNN crew to take a look at the damage on Saturday afternoon. I took all of these pictures from the Parkview website. Keep in mind the water won't crest until late Monday or Tuesday....

Taft Speedway is the street leading into Parkview's parking lot


The view from the parking lot, looking at the building


Another shot of the church


The doors leading into the Parkview church offices


This is looking at the doors as you walk into the Worship Center


Random debris floating through the office


The toddler nursery where I volunteered and Makenna spent many of her Sunday mornings


Inside the Worship Center looking back at the balcony that houses all of the technology


The atrium


To give you some perspective, this is a picture of the Atrium as they were trying to evacuate everything on Thursday. Amazing how much can change in just a few hours.


I just thought this shot was appropriate...