Water, Water, Everywhere?

Well not quite, but most areas in Northern Ireland are getting very heavy rain yet again today after the flooding in Belfast yesterday.  

Some great pics have been tweeted around and the papers are full of them too, especially the one of the police jeep half submerged and where can the police go but onto the roof.

We drove from Banbridge to Londonderry yesterday afternoon via Belfast and the journey was okay until we got closer to Londonderry and the rain came down so hard I could scarcely see a few metres in front of me.  We laughed and said thank goodness we live at the top of a hill and so does my sister (our destination).

Great visit seeing our new great nephew only one week old and of course taking lots of pictures of everyone provided they got close enough to the baby because, of course, he was the star attraction.  

We were actually celebrating so many things yesterday that our nephew declared it was like a mini Christmas with all the cards and gifts being exchanged.  

There was a new baby, a birthday, an anniversary, and a new home.

Then came all the news about the flooding, the many roads that were closed, the damage done to homes and businesses and about the way people were helping others like the guy with the surf board, yes I did say surf board, and the guy in the canoe/kayak.  The RNLI were out helping with 2 boats as well and the Red Cross were distributing aid.

Travelling back this morning was relatively rain free but now as I write this the rain is pouring down in Banbridge again and probably elsewhere too.  As we came through Belfast this morning to drop off our son most of the roads that had been shut down to traffic last night were open again but loads of damage done that will not be fixed up as quickly as the roads can dry up.  

Most of the talk in the coming days and weeks will be of how the flooding should never have happened, the council were not prepared for it etc. and the city will be rife with criticism and the caring, helpful people will not be talked about in all the major discussions.  I love the way these people I have mentioned and others didn't sit back and complain but got out there and helped in there own small but generous way.  There were probably many other good samaritans around the city who I will never hear about but they all deserve praise for helping others.  

They say there could be more flooding today and maybe tomorrow but then too there will be people who will step forward to help and show that they care for others.  This is something we should all be ready to do but usually we are too concerned with what irritates us rather than thinking about who we could make a difference for.  

We don't need to wait for something like a flood to happen but there are many ways we can look out for others, we just need to notice what their needs might be.

We don't need to wait for something like a flood to happen

We should ask God each day to make us aware of people we can help or even needs we should be praying for.