It seems like it’s been raining in Atlanta for a month. Truthfully, it’s only been about a week of rainy days. But when sky’s are grey and the rain won’t stop, sunshine seems like afar away memory.
A week of daily downpours has our yard a muddy mess. The ground can’t soak up any more water. The grass is being washed away and we almost have a swamp in our back yard. We’ve had a lot of rain. But what we haven’t had, is a wet basement. I am very thankful for the dry basement.
In times past, this much rain would have surely caused a small lake to form in my den. This year, at least so far, we have avoided it. For sure God’s grace and mercy is involved, but I think He has also helped me avoid it by other means. Namely, hardship, experience, and preparation.
The hardship of drying out a basement multiple times over the years has taught me several things. The first is that drying out a basement is a real pain in the butt, so I don’t want to do it if I don’t have to. The second is that I have to be diligent about preparation. I can’t procrastinate. If the gutters are full of leaves and overflowing, and if downspouts and landscaping don’t send the water away from the house, I’m in trouble.
This year, I’ve been on the roof cleaning gutters several times, even once or twice in the rain. It beats dealing with a flooded basement any day. But it’s really hard to make myself do it sometimes. Especially if there is no rain in the forecast. Here’s a word of advice: Sooner or later, there is always rain in the forecast. Do yourself a favor. Fix the gutters while the sun is shining.