It’s taken me several days to write this post. Why? Because it’s the post I never expected to write.

Two days before my Christmas break departure, I wrecked my truck. It was my fault. Thankfully it was just my truck verses a metal barrier. Neither won. Also gratefully, God provided my hair dressers husband to look at my truck and determine is was just cosmetic damage! So I drove to Ohio.

I did everything I knew to do (I say knew) to keep THE121 safe whilst away. And I left.

And then I came back.

I walked into no heat and no electricity at THE121. I didn’t panic because I always lose electricity and I am always prepared for that.

But the heat.

Do you remember what happened over Christmas? If you’re not from the Northeast, let me remind you….

The temps tanked.

The wind chilled.

They called it a “once in a century storm.”

I quickly turned on the water. Nothing. I didn’t panic. I just figured it would come back.

I put my thermal pajamas on and went to bed.

Then I went to work.

Then I came home.

I came home. I stepped into my house. I stepped into water.

I quickly realized the inevitable happened. A pipe broke somewhere…500 gallons of precious water…now in my precious tiny house…

I rapidly called for help and within 20 minutes 6 friends showed up with towels, hammers, flashlights and a shop vac.

In a normal house one can get things to another room…thankfully I have two lofts for “higher ground.”

While the men looked for the leak, we women and children quickly soaked up the water while hauling clothes, presents and valuables to cars.

In THE121 my water tank resides under my bed. So after the men disassembled the bed, a working theory began that an ice damn formed in my shut off valve which broke when THE121 got back up to temp and therefore broke the valve allowing 500 gallons of water to burst out.

A dear friend offered her house for the night and I gratefully accepted. The next morning I made a phone call to another friend who came over, assessed and agreed with the theory. AND he told me he could fix it!

He got to work while another friend helped me haul 20 straw bails to temporarily insulate the bottom of the house. After a long day, he reinstalled the pipes, ran heat tape and insulated them. (If you live in my area and need a contractor, I got your guy!)

The house was still in disarray and without water so I headed back to my friends house.

Mentally & emotionally spent, it wasn’t until today that there was energy to put THE121 back together with the help of my dear friend.

So here’s where you come in and why I humbly write this post.

1. Pray for Rain I lost my entire water supply.

2. Pray for protection. I won’t know if the fix worked until it rains.

3. Pray that I didn’t lose my hot water tank. Again, I won’t know this until I can run the water and test it out.

4. Ask God to provide. As you can imagine this was quite the expense.

So. Lesson Learned. Sometimes God uses the hard things to bring us to our knees and teach us complete and utter dependence on Him.

I have learned this past week how amazingly wonderful my friends are and what a tremendous support they are to me. The power of community is real.

I have learned that God is doing a work in me and using THE121 to do it. I Can honestly say this was one of the most humbling weeks I have had in a tremendously long time.

Without Him I am nothing and I have nothing.

It’s a slow process to put THE121 back together but as I write this I’m laying on my couch, my bed is rebuilt and Maggie Marie is snuggled up on my lap. I have so much to be grateful for.

Thank you for praying and investing in my journey.