According to the Grace of our God

On Tuesday, June 15, 2010 I drove home from work on my motorcycle.  As I got within a mile of the house the road was blocked by emergency fire crews.  I detoured up the street and around.  I thought I had cut around where ever the fire was, however as I rejoined the street I could see the column of smoke in front of me.  I was dismayed thinking it was one of my neighbors.  As I got closer their was another road block manned by one of the guys I knew from the fire company that I am a member of.  "Carl is that fire over there at my house?".   "I think so".  What  a shock.  I parked my motorcycle at a neighbors house and started to walk toward my house.  I was met by my oldest daughter in tears and I could see that the whole back of the house was on fire.  Smoke and fire were coming from the front section also.  I now realized that my life was going to be changed dramatically.

What did I feel?  First I thought of my wife, who I was told was on the way back from shopping for a dress to wear on Sunday, when our son gets married.  I worried about her driving and not knowing what was going on.  I prayed for her safety.  Then for about 5 minutes I was very sad, to think of the loss of the home we had invested our lives in for the past 23 years.

But then folks made it very clear that no one was home and the dog and cat were out and safe.  I looked around and saw my friends from the fire company doing their very best.  I saw neighbors greeting me and consoling me.  I was overwhelmed at the blessing that God had given to me.  In a very short time I came to accept what had happened.  It was stuff, my home was after all a building and my life consisted of so much more than this.  Would my wife feel the same?  Our house projects over the past several years were coming to a conclusion with a brand new kitchen under construction, according to the desires and design of my wife.

My wife drove up to the neighbors house that I was waiting at and then we walked down the street to see our house on fire.  She realized the extent of the loss.  She looked at me and I knew that she felt the same as I.   We shared with each other our perspective in light of the abundant blessings God has given to us.  We would be sad, but not devastated.  We would know loss, but we would also know the blessing of God as manifest through the folks that came to comfort us.  We would have a lot of challenges dealing with living arrangements, insurance, recovery, rebuilding and reshaping our lives.  But we would have opportunity to share and celebrate with others what God has done for us in Jesus Christ.

2 Thes. 1:12 We pray this so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.

It was a long night that night as the women and men for the fire departments worked exhaustively to put out the fire and retain our possessions.  That night many of my family, christian brothers and sisters, neighbors spent the night hugging and crying with us.  Many of them seemed more devastated then my wife and I.  Many who were praying for us at that moment were making it possible for the Holy Spirit of God to confort us.

I hope to share with you many of the little stories of things we experienced over the past several days that God has done for us.  Some things that touch the personal lives of others I can't share, but I want folks to know that God is working in very powerful ways even when we can't see it.

I will say this several times of the next several days.  My wife and I are fine.  We are not putting on a brave front, we are not in shock, we are not trying to be private or independent.  We have received very generous offers for help.  Maybe as the days go by and we understand our situation better we will be able to reach out and ask for help. 

For now we have a bed to sleep in, food to eat, clothing on our back and a weekend away to Illinois to spend time with family as my son gets married on Sunday to my future daughter-in-law.  Celebrate and be happy with us.