2/08/07

Last night was horrible. We woke up at 1:00 am to find that the area outside our bedroom windows was on fire. Steve had put out ashes from the woodstove and thought they were all safe! Well, apparently in the middle there were still some hot spots and that caused the area around where he spread them to catch on fire. It caught the pinestraw on fire and by the time we woke up it was at our foundation! Steve ran out quickly and hooked up the waterhose. Thank the Lord it was not frozen! He began spraying the whole area and I poured a bucket of water on an area that was under the deck. We kept using the flashlight to see if there were anymore hot spots. There was smoke all in the house and underneath the house and we were doing all we could to get the smoke OUT of the house. We finally got the fire out and then Steve kept checking all around. The thing that made me sick on my stomach was how CLOSE it was to burning down our house as well as how close the fire was to our main gas line. I don't even want to think of what it could have done if it had totally hit that.

My nerves were shot all night and when we finally did get back to sleep around 3 or 3:30. I dreamed about fighting the fire and smelling the smoke. The inside of the house still reeks of smoke. We have called the insurance company and they will send out someone tomorrow. The people who help clean out the smoke smell were here when I got home from school and are wanting to start work tomorrow. We'll see what the adjuster says. I was a wreck at school this morning but I know that God woke us up and helped us through this. We really could have all been gone but He held us firmly in the palm of His hands. I know it will all work out. I have had to think on the BLESSINGS of how the Lord kept us safe instead of dwelling on what COULD have happened.

I still cannot believe it happened. Tonight when Steve started a fire in the woodstove, the crackling of the fire which used to bring me a warm comfort caused me a moment of hair- raising stress. I just kept picturing what I had seen early this morning when I went out on the deck and saw that "ring of fire".... it was so surreal. I truly could not believe it was happening.

On top of the fire we had another interesting thing this week. Steve's truck "died" on him on the way to work Tuesday. When he went to see how much it would cost to get it fixed he found out there were even more problems and it was going to cost almost what it was worth to fix it!! Steve said he wasn't pouring that much money in something that was 11 years old. I had to pray that day that the Lord would guide his steps. He found another truck that is actually bigger for all of us to fit in. It is a 2003 Chevy Silverado. He was able to get a good deal on it and his brother helped him with the details of the sale. I just put it in the Lord's hands and asked Him to lead, guide and direct. Steve is really enjoying his new truck and it really is nice to be able to have all of us ride with him. It is also an automatic so I can drive it if I need to.

God has blessed in so many ways this week. I am humbled by what He has done. I give Him the total glory for it all. I think the pictures above speak for themselves....