A New Year Begins
We had gone to Petoskey to celebrate New Years with our family. On Sunday morning, we received a phone call at 6 a.m. and discovered that our home was on fire. I often wondered how I would respond in a crisis. Would I remember the truth that I knew to be? As the words sunk in, I immediately knew the truth. All that really mattered were right there in that moment with me. Everything else was just a house...just stuff. It could all be replaced. We packed up the van and began a long 8 hour ride home.
When we arrived home, I was relieved to discover that from the outside it did not look too bad. As I climbed the stairs, I saw so much that looked just right. Although the smell of smoke was thick in the air, it didn't look as though there had been a fire.
The fire had been contained to a two story section in which the girls two bedrooms, a family room, and a bath were located. As I looked around Katie's and Molly's rooms, I was grateful that they were downstairs in the van.
I was amazed at the care the fire department had taken while making sure the fire was under control. Because there was burning between floors and walls, they had to break through the ceiling and one of the walls in the living room. On the wall that they broke through, we had a birth tile for each of us. There, stacked neatly in a chair, were those birth tiles. Furniture was carefully moved out of the way. What a blessing these men had been to us!
The rest of the story clearly speaks to the blessing we received that day. Click below for the rest of the story.
