STEP ONE: BREATHE

Take a deep, cleansing breath. Allow the air to fill your lungs and expand your body. Exhale and empty yourself into the room. Repeat three times - once for the one who Created you, once for the Incarnate One who walks beside you, and once for the Spirit whose life fills your being.

STEP TWO: DWELL IN WORD

“For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing.”
”

— Luke 12:23

A PERSONAL STORY

1997. Mention that year to someone who lived in North Dakota’s Red River Valley and their first thought is: The Flood. My grandparents lived in Grand Forks then, so while I lived three states away at the time, I too will never forget The Flood.

Small bit of background - Since the Red River of the North runs north, in the spring that means the water eventually finds a jam of ice, and starts backing up and rising. Grand Forks is used to this and sandbags accordingly. But in 1997, the river crested at 54 feet, well beyond experience or perditions could envision. An emergency evacuation was ordered, sending people from their homes with whatever they threw into their vehicle before leaving.

Similar to now, people underestimated the length of time between the start of an emergency and being able to return to normal. What many in Grand Forks assumed would be a couple of days away turned out to be several weeks. Part of what makes us human is the way our brains can only partially process an emergency. It probably helps us manage in the immediate, even if later on we look back and wonder how we underestimated the scope of the situation.

When people were allowed home, they had flooded basements to deal with. Because of contamination in the water, residents were encouraged to throw out everything that was in their basements. Everything.

Think of what all is in your basement. Old tax records, fabric for that quilt you’re half done with, board games, a pantry full of canned and boxed foods, a washer and dryer and maybe a freezer. Maybe a wall with framed photos – graduations, weddings, birth announcements, and reunions. A box of random photos and negatives. Items you look forward to giving to the next generation. Some of these are replaceable, others are not.

Whatever was in those flooded basements, it had to go. Items piled on the berm were often 6 feet tall and continued on and on and on down the block.

This was true for my grandparents on both sides of the family. Eventually I was able to visit, to see it all for myself and to hear their stories.

“Do you know what I brought with us when we left for Fargo?” asked my grandmother as we sat around their kitchen table, drinking coffee.

It was mostly a rhetorical question, but I did respond. “No. What did you bring?”

“Your grandfather’s birthday cake.”

Which was not the answer I’d expected.

“Yes,” she said. “And it was in the basement. Which means I went down there, past the photo albums – which would have made a lot more sense to take – and instead took your grandfather’s cake. It sat on my lap all the way to Fargo.”

“So how was your birthday, Grandpa?” I asked.

“Oh, real good,” he said.

“There was certainly cake,” she said dryly.

Two things from this exchange have stayed with me. The first was my grandmother having a sense of humor. Particularly a sense of humor about herself. I’d rarely had a chance to see that side of her. And, in my opinion, to be able to poke fun at one’s self is a sign of health. There’s still the mourning of what was lost, but also an ability to find perspective.

Secondly, I’ve always hoped that if I am in a similar situation, I’ll choose the cake too. That I would choose to make special a day that’s important to someone I love. That I would choose to make new memories.

Would I mourn the loss of certain things? Yes. But at the end of the day, things are just things. People and relationships are what matter.

So when the opportunity arises, take the cake.

STEP THREE: PRAY

Gracious Lord, help us to keep the first things first. When we forget, remind us that our value is not in what we have, but in that we are yours.

Today’s devotion is by Pastor Meredith McGrath.