all of a sudden

There's been a string of crises the past two weeks, so I haven't been able to write much. Heavy rains produced a severe flooding of the creek, tearing down our internet cable (and breaking the steel cable that supported it), knocking out service for all the houses here. Before we could start working on that, though, a water line broke, leaving one of the houses without any water. Then, shortly after both of those got repaired, lightning struck a different house here, knocking out power in that building, the phone line in our building, and destroying two phones, a TV, and two electronic components in our internet system. I've been working to correct all these problems. Then there was also a toilet that broke, a printer that failed right when we needed to print 2600 labels—and the sewer line to this building is showing signs of blockage.

This is all on top of the terrible fire last month. Maybe I should have prayed a little harder for mercy.

Pretty much everything is fixed now (and the farm newsletter is mailed), except the sewer guy still needs to come. And really it hasn't been so bad for me. I've learned a lot helping to fix all these things, and the work hasn't been overwhelming. Oh, and in the middle of it all, someone donated a new (used) computer to replace the 15-year-old one I was using in the office. It was fun setting that up, and it works great. A much appreciated gift.

We've also had a couple requests for retreats this summer. The chaplain from Good News Partners wants to visit in July. And someone who leads a bible study at a soup kitchen at a church in Evanston wants to come soon, and then bring a group later this summer. We've been praying for a relationship with both these people for quite a while now. And then, all of a sudden, here they come.