I have not minded the rainy summer; it keeps the grass and the trees lush and green right until the very end. I am mindful, though of the many people in so many places, who have been horribly affected by the increased rainfall. Floods can be so, so scary.

14 years ago, our world seemed to convulse with water: the tsunami of 2004/5. Katrina that summer. Then, Chiang Mai was hit with the worst flood in 80 years. Heavy rain fell for 5 solid days. The ground simply could not absorb one more drop. So quickly, it rose. Before long, water was pouring into our house through 3 doors. We woke Josiah, and the three of us carried our furniture, living room, dining room and even our refrigerator up our wooden staircase to the second floor. All the while watching the water rise. We three fell into an exhausted sleep around 2 am. The next day we rose to such filth and stench!

Within an hour, dear friends, fellow missionaries who, along with us, had spent all of 2005 mopping up the nations that had been most affected by the tsunami arrived on our doorsteps, with buckets, mops and bleach. God’s angels, they were, and within hours, our home was free from even the smell of the flood. That’s God, folks. Always ready to help and to remove even the stench of the floods in our lives.

~ Debbie Ecker