Friday, March 16, 2012

nothing like a fire to heat things up

this week the mountain behind my house was ablaze as we headed out to church wednesday night. SO I scooped up the kids & the dogs .. dropped the dogs off at grandma's house and took the kids to church. Honestly it was a bit scary as I have never been that close to a wildfire... and while I was assured it was "too far away to reach us" there was still that nagging voice in the back of my head wondering if evacuation would be necessary & if it was what would happen to our house?

and then I felt God whisper... "its all temporal... you have the important things in your truck"

While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal. 2 Corinthians 4:18

Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also Matthew 6:19-21

and then in the midst of my worry & concern I started thinking about and praying for friends that are struggling in a more profound way... so I started to pray for them. and while that didnt change the position or location of the wildfire it did change my focus. And the worry that I could have allowed to overtake me was held at bay.

We came home after church and tracked down an officer and asked if we should find somewhere to stay for the night. He assured us that the winds had died down & that we should be safe for the night.. and in the event that an evacuation became necessary they would go through and insist everyone evacuate. So I packed up a laundry basket full of clean clothes and prepped for the worst & prayed for the best.

As Judah woke up through the night to feed I looked out the window and saw flashlights out there manning the fire.. and as the night progressed there was less and less fire and what felt like more and more flashlights. By morning there were a few smoke plumes but for the most part the fire was out...

but then I had to consider... would I be as thankful if God had allowed the fire to rage and consume this area. and I was just thankful I didnt have to consider that. The kids , the dogs & I were safe. and that was more than enough to be thankful for.

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