february 24th

our dishwasher backed up a little while ago, sending water out underneath our "floating" laminate floor. water bubbled up around the corners and warped the edges. soon an odor filled the kitchen, specifically right next to the sink and dishwasher.
i don't particularly like the look of laminate, the fake wood stands out against the nice honey color of the rest of the wood. i've wanted to replace the kitchen floor since we moved in but the money was never available.
it turns out we're re-doing the floor. when we first realized we'd have to do something about the problem, we panicked. what money were we going to use to replace the floor? how could we afford ceramic, which was really the only way to be sure our floors wouldn't be ruined again? would we need a new dishwasher too? we talked with justin, our flooring specialist (thanks!) and he suggested checking into our home owners insurance. he sent someone out to look at the floor in the meantime, and we started to rip up the laminate, in order to save the rest of the floor from rotting.
the adjuster from allstate came out today and looked at what remains of our floor. we were nervous, but had prayed for God's favor. she checked everything out, measured off the floor, asked us some questions and then told us the news. she can't insure the rot under the floor, we'd have to take care of it ourselves since it looks like it's been happening over a long period of time. she suggested we get a new dishwasher. but she could stretch out the terms a bit and give us enough to cover the cost of the laminate plus installation and whatever else went along with that type of floor. tom asked her to approximate how much that would be. probably a couple thousand dollars, she replied. a couple thousand dollars. praise Jesus, that's more than we expected and probably more than we need to cover new floor and a new dishwasher.
as i prepared big breakfast today, standing on the remnants of the old floor, i read the verse for today: and my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus. philippians 4:19. thank you God. you have great timing.