Before you jump to conclusions, this is not my house but it does have value to someone very special to me. She did not live in the house at the time it was engulfed in flames but she still is effected by the house being in this condition. Tomorrow I will have her tell the story from her own words.Tomorrow will be Fire Pt. 2.
We were together at church when she got a phone call that caused her to weep. She didn't tell me what had happened until later but when she sent me this picture and told me the testimony behind the picture I could not help but praise God. I could not help but be grateful for every time I fell asleep or turned the burner up too high to cook something too fast. I could not help but praise God for His fire that has come into my life to make me as pure gold. Looking at it today I cannot help but be humbled at God's love.
Job 23:10 Amplified Bible (AMP) 10 But He knows the way that I take [He has concern for it, appreciates, and pays attention to it]. When He has tried me, I shall come forth as refined gold [pure and luminous].
When my daughter was in the hospital she had a nurse who had a couple fingers burned off from fire crackers. He was her favorite nurse because he was attentive and caring. He told her to listen to her mother. "My mother told me to leave them things (the firecrackers) alone. I was 23 when this happened."
Have you ever experienced a fire or a near fire because you got distracted and let something cook until it burned? Do you know someone who is a survivor of a fire?
So I have many stories of my recklessness and God's grace in my life regarding fire but I want share two:
Fire #1
I saw the news through the fog of sleepiness. I thought to myself that building looks familiar. I couldn't place where I knew it from the angle of the news camera. When they showed the front of the building I let out a loud scream. Marquetta!
I had been there many times visiting with my friend. We had dinners, bible studies, discussions about curtains and music and our dreams. Marquetta! I called her name, called her phone, called out to God because it was her apartment. I sobbed because I didn't have anyone's number to find if she was okay!
For a couple of hours I was a nervous wreck thinking about my friend but she she called me and told me her testimony. We laughed when she said, "Girl, you know I go to bed." That part was funny but then she said, "My neighbor had to bang on the door to get me up." That's when reality hit that she was a survivor! I could shout right now thinking about it! I'm already teary eyed. I love you Marquetta!
Fire #2
August (2013) my family was gone for a week and I was home alone. Happy to be alone so I could watch tv, go to bed early and stay up late.
Darn Facebook. I started reconnecting with people through their blogs and websites, reading posts and laughing out loud. I was hungry but wanted something quick to cook. Instead of staying with the oil for my french fries I went back to the computer. Lost in the screen I heard the fire alarm. I smelled the smoke, ran to the kitchen and the oil was burning. I panicked because I didn't know how to turn the alarm off. It was so loud that I could hear it echoing between the houses on the 3 streets surrounding my house. I picked up the oil to take it outside, it was smoky and I needed to get it out of the house. On my way out I tripped, spilling the oil and it burned through the carpet on our back porch right where my neighbor usually sits smoking his pipe!
Oh. My. God!
I ran up the fire stairs to my landlord. No answer. I ran down the stairs to tell my neighbors who are elderly that there was no fire just smoke and I didn't know how to turn off the alarm. No answer. I ran back across the backyard where our cars were parked on rocks and fell! That's when I broke my ankle. But our landlord thankfully had come down the fire stairs and met me. By that time I was hobbling in pain. But I kept going so she could show me how to turn off the alarm. That night changed my life in so many ways.
Girl, Pray For Me. Fire is nothing to play with.
Describe an experience with fire.
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