MO' Help Arrives!

I just welcomed the group from Jeff. City, Missouri who will be working with us the next several days at the Gruhn's home. Nice young folks. They are staying at FLC tonight and will join us for worship Sunday at 11AM. If you spot them, please extend a warm Iowa welcome.

They head off to Gloria Dei to stay Sunday-Wednesday nights, as we have the daycare and can't take overnight folks. I've lined up food and a shower trailer for them (doesn't that sound like fun?!). Pastor Dan will be working with them to build a garden and fence for the Gruhn's. I hope they meet Kia while they are here. Pastor Dan hopes they can paint Kia's room upstairs (untouched by the flood). Word is she wants it purple.

Volunteers Overwhelm Contractor

"You had how many people today?" asked the voice on the other end of the phone. "21," I replied. "WHOA!" came the voice again. I admit 21 was more people than I expected and apparently it is the magic number to get a "whoa" out of seasoned contractor Pat Freilinger on the phone. He told me, "I've worked with volunteers on other flooded houses, but I haven't seen anything like what you guys are doing. This is great!"

Activity was fast and furious all morning. Three teams of drywallers filled the inside of the house with sounds of cutting, driving nails and screws into the fresh, new walls. The "Dynamic Duo" of Dave Bey and Dave DeWolf worked as fast as they could sealing of the insulation to stay ahead of drywallers John Shaw, John Hall, Kerry Kupka, Tom Olmstead, Kent Dvorak, and Scott Gerhold sweating in the intense heat inside the house.

Meanwhile, four teams of guys outside put up trim boards and beautiful gray siding, each piece cleanly covering a little more evidence of last year's destructive flood water. Marv Quaas, Nathan Burger, Matt Musil, Terry Shie, Mark Sheibe, Ken Van Zee, and Larry Johnson cut, placed, and pounded the siding, and all while trying to avoid the beating sun. Mary Van Houten brought by a delicious coffee cake, lemonaide, and water for our break. While Larry Muters, Carol Lakin, and I transported new appliances and furniture out to a storage unit. Pastor Dan calculated and purchased the materials needed for the yard work this week done by our friends from Missouri.

Our progress kept our on-site professional Joe Roling hopping. We finished up the drywall in the living room, one bedroom, and got a head start on the kitchen. We prepped the whole house for siding and siding over half of one wall. Freilinger said he lined up another volunteer crew from the coalition to drywall Monday. Then the pros will tape, mud, and sand our work. The hope is to finish up the siding and be painting inside on our next work day July 11th! Hope to see you then!

Kids Bless Quilts

A full house at 9:30 Worship helps the children bless 60 beautiful quilts to go to kids affected by the flood.

The First Lutheran "Comfort-makers" crafted 60 snuggly, homemade blankets: one for each child attending the Camp Noah, a nationally recognized summer camp to help kids process going through a natural disaster such a flood. FLC is hosting the camp July 20-24. Space is available! For more information click here: http://www.kcrg.com/news/local/46864792.html

The comfort makers draped the colorful quilts over the backs of the pews during all worship services this weekend. At the 8, 9:30, & 11 AM services, kids placed their hands on the quilts to pray for the well-being of the children who would use them.

FLC Volunteers Impress the Pros

"(The people of First Lutheran) got way further than any of us ever dreamed we would get today!" Joe Roling from Done Done Contracting offered this ringing endorsement to the more than dozen people who showed up with willing hearts and eager hands to help one of our own flock recover from the flood.

Dave DeWolf and Dave Bey smiled ear-to-ear as John Hall helped Roling put the first piece of new sheet rock in place. It had been a long time coming. "Dave and I put in a lot of time tearing all of the old stuff out," said Bey. "It feels good to see that go up."

Signs of progress all around made this morning one of the most optimistic days in the life of First Lutheran Church since the flood water hit one year ago year last week. Dave Karpa and Fredrick Rotemiller arrived an hour early to string phone and cable - the last hurdle inside the house before the ball really starts to roll downhill now with insulation, sheetrock, and painting. "I honestly thought we would just start putting in insulation this morning," offered Roling. "I never thought we'd get everything done we did." I told Joe, "That's the power of God at work!" I really could feel His presence this morning in everything taking place. Once the phone and cable went in, Hall, Bey, and DeWolf went to work on the insulation. Like Bey and DeWolf have done for so many months, the trio rolled up their sleeves and knocked it out before noon. John even hung the first piece of sheetrock.

If cleanliness is next to Godliness, Robert and Kia Gruhn are ready for sainthood! The pair scrubbed the basement clean and sprayed on a mold preventer. Robert also helped Larry Johnson and I take down a neighbor's donated chain link fence for the Gruhn's dog, Daisy. Karolyn Smith brought a delicious coffee cake for us during our break. Jim Janke and Terry Shie spent all morning on ladders wrapping the house in much-needed waterproof paper.

Next Saturday we will be hanging sheetrock and possibly putting on siding from 8 AM to Noon at 1642 8th street. All we need is YOU! You don't need any expertise, just a willing heart to help. Hope to see you there!

Meet the Gruhns!

You might be asking yourself,"Who is this Gruhn family I keep hearing so much about?" Well, they are a neat little, atypical family worth getting to know.
Like you, I had heard so much about them that when the day came for our first meeting, I found myself piloting my pickup anxiously through the raindrops with my hands gripped to the old, leather wheel. As I passed by house after half-built house, my heart grew heavy in my chest. I thought to myself, here it is almost one year to the day after the flood and so many people still need our help! The sky over my cherry-red pickup was dull and gray, the exact same sky as that heart-breaking week of the flood. But my spirits were about to be lifted by a furry little friend.

As I opened the door to the Gruhn's flooded out home, I was greeted by a cute, little, white and brown dog. A blond teenager swooped down to pick up the dog and introduced herself, "My name's Kia," she said with a teenager's optimism, "And this is Daisy." Kia was very pleasant and we hit it off right away. She happened to know a close friend of mine who will also be a sophomore next year in high school. I felt God's Spirit touch my soul and I opened my mouth and put words to it, "Kia, we are going to have your family back in your house by the time you start school!" (Their general contractor told me in an earlier conversation that he is committed to the same goal). I just know the people of First Lutheran will come through. The moment gave me goosebumps. Daisy pranced around us in circles and Kia told me, "You know, Daisy just seems more happy here in our house. She loves to play over here even though it's just plywood floors and bare studs."

Next I met Kia's Dad, Robert. Robert is a hard-working, fun guy with a smile you can't seem to ever wipe off his face. Robert is also deaf, which made communicating with him a little challenging at first. The two of us talked about how the gray skies, the upcoming flood anniversary, and all the challenges we've faced thus far have made us all feel glum. I told them I honestly wondered one year ago, "Where is God in all of this?" Then I shared with them that I've since come to realize that God is present in those of us who come to help out others. God is also present in people who have lived through the flood and teach the rest of us humility. The three of us then joined hands and prayed for God's guidance and protection in the weeks ahead.

A few days later, I had the chance to meet Kia's grandparents in their FEMA trailer....that's right 3 generations living under one roof! Paul and Lillian have been members of FLC for over 25 years. The cute, seasoned couple celebrate 46 years of marriage together this month. Sure they are not perfect people (none of us are), but all in all, they are a family I feel glad to give my time and energy helping this summer. I think you will too!

Touched by the Flood

I sent this email to friends and family one year ago this weekend. I share it with you today in honor of a city on the mend...





This is a difficult email to write. I am in the throws of trying to put together a sermon where people so badly need to hear the hope of the gospel of Jesus Christ. We have members of our congregation who have been evacuated from their homes and others who have personal businesses under water and in jeopardy.

As many of you may know, I am also in the Big Brothers program. My 'little brother' Marcus' house is entirely underwater. I received one of the saddest phone calls in my life 6 AM Thursday morning from Marcus' grandmother and caretaker, Dorothy, who fighting through tears, told me she thought they would lose everything. Dorothy runs a daycare out of her home to pay the bills. Now she doesn't know how she will sustain life. When I talked to her, she was exhausted from staying up all night watching the waters overtake her house. Dorothy and her family are unchurched. I assured her she will not go through this alone! I promised her I would ask my internship congregation to help her clean-up in the weeks ahead.
She took a deep breath and said, 'Really?!' I could hear a glimmer of hope in her voice. 'That would be wonderful.'

Our house is on a hill about 3 blocks from the edge of the flood water. The flood water laps at the bottom of the hill. Yesterday, I walked down to the National Guard solders who are guarding the water-blocked road to thank them for their service. I told them I was a chaplain and that I'm praying for them. One of the soldiers reached out to shake my hand and wearly said, 'Thank you.' He told me he was from Davenport and had been in Cedar Rapids working 36 hours straight. Many other fire and police officers have worked countless hours in boats pulling flood victims and their pets from their homes and saving their lives. Our pastor and her husband spent yesterday visiting with people at a makeshift shelter at Prairie Schools, where my wife teaches, visiting with displaced victims.

Katie and I have been without power for five days. We are fortunate our house isn't a total loss like some of our neighbors, but we live close enough to them that the power company told us it would be a calculated risk to turn our power back on. We were told it could be a week or two before power is restored. We have Kirk's milk on ice in a cooler. We lost everything in our fridge, which will cost us a few hundred dollars to replace. I took some of our frozen foods to the church freezer and some to a friend's house in Fairfax (about 2 miles from Cedar Rapids).

In addition, the entire city is operating with just one water well (about 25% of the needed capacity to run the town), so we are asked to limit water use to drinking only. That means no showers, little toliet flushing, and no laundry or dish cleaning. Our friends in Fairfax have opened their home to us for all our day-to-day needs and we are thankful to God for that.

At this time, I would ask you all to pray for the people in Iowa City and other places down river. Pray that they would take serious the gravity of the situation coming and they would take precautions including evacuating their homes when told to by emergency workers and city officials.

God bless,
-Craig

Soaked but Not Sunk

I have witnessed a lot of strange things in my life: a complete double rainbow, a giant troll under a bridge in Seattle, and Iowa's Dallas Clark catching a last second pass to beat the Boilermakers, but none of them compare to what my eyes saw Friday.

I stood in complete amazement as 250 people showed up for a free picnic with smiles on their faces in an absolute downpour. That's how bad our city needed this event. Family after family streamed in through the rain with enthusiasm and determination that has sustained our city for 365 days since flood waters took so many of their businesses and homes.

The day started rather promising. Massive crowds began arriving under cloudy skies a half hour before our event! A week early, our team knocked on 1,000 doors in the neighborhood; nearly everyone we talked to said they would come for free food. KCRG-TV9 Meteorlogist Joe Winters went live from our cookout at 5 and 6. All the pieces were in place for a massive turnout! And then, much like one year ago, Mother Nature had something to say about it.

All of our good-natured volunteers from First Lutheran, Oakhill Jackson, and Family of Faith all teased Joe as the rain came harder and harder. Joe gave us all a hearty laugh when he shot back, "When you all said grace, I didn't hear anyone praying for no rain!!" I told Joe, "If anyone has problems with the weather, they should talk to our boss!" Joe smiled and knew what I meant. God is in control of the weather, Joe just reports it (and does a fine job too).

I am just as convinced that God didn't pour rain on our picnic to "get back at us," as I am convinced that God didn't flood our city one year ago today to repay our sins. That task was handled in full 2,000 years ago by Jesus Christ. Recall the story of Noah and the flood. When the rain ended, God set his rainbow in the sky and proclaimed, "Never again! Never again will I forsake my people." And so we take God at His word. I believe God loves us so much that He will always deliver us from our trouble and despair, even now. He is using you and I to rebuild a great city in Cedar Rapids. We saw it time and time again on Friday.

Four brave souls soaked to the bone (Andy, Tom, Dave, and Al) kept flipping burgers all night without any cover over their heads. The women serving the food never complained. Our band and facepainters got washed out, but enjoyed some free food. Some of the seats around them may have been empty, but the conversations were full. A homeless gentlemen told me a story of helping move a woman from evacuated Mercy Hospital to St. Luke's just in time to deliver twins! Another couple told me and I reminced about not being able to flush the toliet or shower for a week. It was a night full of hope.

The event's overall coordinator told me today that our Bever site had 500 people; Noelridge saw 600. Altogether we had over 3,000 people at 11 sites. Had the weather been nice, he said all of us would have run out of food. But that wasn't the case. And so maybe that's how God would have it - a tangible reminder that water can not overcome us and that ultimately water is a good thing. Andy Meyer looked at each other at the end of the day and just smiled. I said, "Well, it was memorable, Andy." He replied, "I wouldn't have it any other way." Neither would I.