“Mom! Dad!” I called from our little porch. “Our back yard is full of water!” Our first flood season had begun. It was Friday morning, and we started moving all the stuff stored under our house to higher places. We worked all day, and by evening the water was up to the edge of the concrete pad under our house. Sabbath morning, the water was up to our knees. I was sure glad our house was built on stilts! Sabbath afternoon, we were having fun playing on the porch and watching people play in the water. Jaden started playing with Pearl’s flip-flops. “Oh no!” Pearl cried. “Mom! Jaden threw my flip-flop into the water. Can you get it?”
“I’ll try,” Mom answered. “Hurry Mom!” I called. “The wind is blowing it away!” Mom ran down the stairs and waded out across the yard. “Aahh!” she yelped as she stepped into a hole and caught herself on one of the water tower pillars. The wind was blowing too hard, and she couldn’t catch the flip-flop before it floated out into water that was over her head.
That evening during prayer time, Alex prayed, “Dear Jesus, please make Pearl’s flip-flop float back.” We smiled at his request. It seemed impossible because of all the water and the river flowing so close to our house.
Two days later, the water was up even higher, and our backyard lake had joined the Great River. We kids stayed at home with Mom while Dad floated on an inner tube to the truck parked on the raised road so he could drive into town to buy food.
About 30 minutes after Dad left the house, Mom looked out the back window “Hey!” she said. “One of our barrels is floating in the back yard. I don’t want to lose it to the river.” She decided to take our other inner tube and go retrieve it. We watched her paddle around the house and past a tree. Soon she had the barrel up on the inner tube with her. “Yay! Mom’s on her way back!” we cheered.
As she paddled closer, I saw an object sitting beside her on the inner tube. “Alex, come quick!” I called. “Look what is floating back to the house on Mom’s inner tube!” When Mom got back to the house she told us she had found the flip-flop in the branches of the tree behind our house. “Thank You, Jesus, for helping Pearl’s flip-flop to float back,” We prayed.
I’m glad Jesus listened to Alex’s prayer. It makes me feel good to know that He hears us when we talk to Him and that He likes to help us too, even with things that seem impossible.

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