Below: The 26' Monster truck pulls up to the Boardman's house. Above: Nearly 60 volunteers from First Lutheran and Trinity Lutheran in Walford form a "bucket brigade" to unload the many trucks.
It was a kind-hearted Christian effort as large as the truck itself. After 15 months in exile from the flood, Roger Hughes masterfully packed the largest commercial truck on the market wall-to-wall with personal items and everything - the Boardmans included - returned to their proper place...home.
It’s a move unlike anything I’ve ever coordinated before. Roger and I started the day at 8 AM picking up our behemoth of a moving vehicle. We were joined by more than a dozen First Lutheran folks at the storage unit donated free of charge to the Boardman’s by one of our church families, Jim and Nancy Mohni. We said a quick prayer for everyone’s safety and no rain and then went to work. Next it was off to Darla’s apartment, where 30 volunteers greeted us! We filled the 26’ truck, five pickups, and several vans with Darla’s furniture and personal items. I sent the pickups to unload at the house and then met them at the FEMA trailer where Darla’s Mom, Loraine, has spent over a year living since the flood. We greeted another dozen or so volunteers at the trailer! I gave a few marching orders and we loaded the half dozen trucks with Loraine’s personal items. We were fortunate most of the furniture belonged to FEMA and stayed with the trailer.
Still, by the time we all got to the house, it was nearly 1 PM. We all gave Roger a big hand, and we also clapped for our handful of guests from Trinity in Walford. We thanked God in prayer for holding off the rain and for being a mercy-filled and loving God who is working through the volunteers to help our community recover from the flood one family at a time! Then we formed up two bucket brigades, one made up of adults & the other youth, to pass the remaining boxes from the big truck and the 6 pick-up trucks at the same time. I was pleased to see several youth and their parents serving others today.
It took about 50 of us just 5 hours to move the family. At the end of the day I handed back the extra house keys Darla gave to me earlier in the summer. I told her and her mom, “You are no longer a flood family! You are simply a church family.” I hope that sinks in for them a bit amidst all of the busyness of unpacking. All of that work, paperwork, and coordinating everything they've struggled with for the past 15 months to get them back into their home is now OVER! They are back; the job is done. Praise be to God!
Please welcome our second flood family, the Boardmans, this weekend at worship. They will be here for the 11 AM worship at First Lutheran Church on the corner of 3rd Ave and 10th St in Southeast Cedar Rapids. We will have cake and a celebration for them around 10:30 AM in the Narthex, just outside of our worship space. 
