The Family Who's House Burned Down

So, it's finally happened. I have started referring to myself, with great ease, as "The Lady Who's House Burned Down". I mean, let's face it, it's us, there is no denying it, and it does help expedite some matters. The way it flows off of my tongue has given me a false sense that I am "fine with it". That I may never wake up and have that melt down everyone has been preparing me for, I would just go on with my life as I have after any other bad day.

But then I asked a neighbor, Anne Ayres, who lives one street above me, to e-mail the photos she had taken during the fire. Keep in mind we were spared ever seeing our house burn. It was only smoking (which was against the rules inside) when we arrived home. And she replied promptly to my request.

Those photos, coupled with the knowledge that attic fires are always dangerous to those inside because smoke rises and some people never know there is a fire until something falls out of the ceiling - it was our furnace that fell ...on the landing...blocking our room from Alyssa's and Aidan's...where they surely would have been sleeping at 5:00 a.m. on a Saturday morning -that made me want to vomit. I have never been punched in the stomach but certainly that is what it feels like. Throw up or cry, those were the only options that seemed available when I saw this photo. A burning inferno, literally, where my babies slept and played, friends slept over, danced, made silly videos, had fashion shows, and bred fish. Not just "some family's house" but rooms that I knew intimately. How quickly the reality of how bad, not only it could have been, but really was, set in. And the sweet voice of my dear friend Debbie Glum who phoned at 5:30 a.m. to let me know the dogs were safe, rang in my ears, "It's bad, really bad". And it obviously was. But how much worse it could have been. That's where my mind has been lately and that's what makes my stomach hurt and makes me want to lie down and take a nap and drift off into dream land where we are not "The Family Who's House Burned Down".

But I can not spend the rest of my life in bed - as tempting as that may sound ;) So I am choosing to focus on the verse from the study I have been in since Fall, thanks to a gentle reminder from Carolyn...

Isaiah 61:3 "...to bestow a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of
gladness instead of mourning, a garment of praise instead of a spirit of
despair"

by praising God that we weren't home, that none of the firefighters were injured (did I mention one of Alyssa's friend's from school dad fought our fire - he concurred, it was bad!), that our neighbors houses were safe - not even the leaves on the trees between us were singed, and of course I praise God for such great friends.

Tonight we had dinner with our friends in our small group (bible study) it was our regularly scheduled meeting night but Mike and I are book-less :( So we just got together to be together. Today Maya babysat me - she spent the day with me, told me what to do (#1 - fix the hair) and I followed her instructions and accomplished much more than I would have left to my own devices. And we have lots of other friends who have helped us out already and are waiting to help us out along the way - I fear it's going to be a long way but our load is light - really, we don't have much :) Well, Alyssa does. Her friends got together and spent their life savings (apparently) on a gift basket for her with items that every girl needs from a Juicy bracelet to a Fireman Build a Bear. She was beaming when I picked her up. But since it was too much for her to lug around school today she left it in the office. I got a call reminding me to pick it up, the person thought it might be for her birthday, but I knew the real reason, she is after all, "The Girl Who's House Burned Down".