He Rescued Us

Last night as I was climbing into bed, 
my mind wandered and began to flood with fear-filled
thoughts.  I had to stop and pray and ask the Lord
for His peace to replace the memories.
I wondered if I would even be able to sleep.  

Exactly five years before I was climbing into bed, 
completely unsuspecting that in just a few hours, 
with Dw out of town {just as he is now},
  

with Elizabeth and Elijah home less than four weeks,

and Tyler having just been home to meet his newest siblings, 

I would be woke up by the only smoke alarm that would
work that night – although we had others – {and that
one lone smoke alarm had been fixed the day of the
13th by an electrician} and I would find our home in flames.  

That morning of the 14th, as I dialed 9-1-1, I remember how my heart was racing and all I kept reminding myself, 
“Speak slo-o-o-w-l-y….”  I tried desperately to have the operator understand that my husband was out of town, all my children were sleeping and I needed them to get to us as fast as possible.  

The operator couldn’t understand a word of what I was saying {because although I thought I was speaking in slow motion, I was actually talking so fast on top of the phone being of poor quality} 
and so she eventually passed me to another operator…who finally said, “Are you trying to report a house fire?”  


Only by God’s grace did we all get out
in time.  

As we were running from our beloved log home that day, 
we turned to stare in disbelief and immediately there was some sort of loud combustion which sent an explosion-type cloud of smoke from all the crevices and crawl space.   

We had not even been out of our home for a minute.  


It was really that close.  


A couple days later the fire marshall would tell us:

*it was the worst fire he’d seen in years
*the temperature went over 800 degrees
*we had less than 5 minutes to spare when we escaped
{which we believe was when that small explosion took place only seconds after we left our home}

No doubt, our lives were forever changed, in so many ways,
that day.  I readily admit I was traumatized with the magnitude of
it all and I was left extremely fragile emotionally.  

The next day Graham had to have emergency surgery
and the next day after that we found our beloved dog, Lucy,
had died.

I would be lying to pretend that any of it was a piece of cake.
On the contrary, it was one of the most difficult seasons of my entire life, personally, and for our family as a whole. 

There were so many components to it all.  Some day soon
I hope to write about several aspects of it, however, for
now, five years later, on this significant day in our
family’s history, we look back and humbly celebrate
the faithfulness of God.  

No one will ever be able to convince of anything other than Almighty God’s tangible presence was completely evident
 that day in keeping the wood wet until
I was awake enough to get our treasures up and out…

With every fiber of my being I know:

“The angel of the Lord encamps round about those who fear Him and rescues them.”  
Psalm 34:7 

Special thanks to a sweet bloggy friend, Linda, we have a constant reminder above our front door….

With humble and reverent hearts we will solemnly thank the Lord for the rest of our lives for His very palpable presence that day five years ago.  

All praise, honor and glory to Almighty God.  

We were forever changed and we are eternally grateful for His
protection, His provision and His providence. 

18 thoughts on “He Rescued Us

  1. Wonderful testimony to a terrible time in your lives……love the verse above the door. To God be the glory for saving all of you to be a blessing to so many others…

    1. I was so thankful when it was the 2 year mark after the fire. All insurance stuff was turned in {finally!} after taking literally 2 years to complete. Add to it rebuilding a whole new house, bringing Jubilee home, Uncle Mark coming to live with us – just to start! So grateful to be 5 years past it now. And soon you can see the verse for yourself!! xoxoxo

  2. i remember this day…..oh how faithful is the Lord to take charge over all of you, His beloved treasures! Many times the Lord has brought this and the days that followed to my mind. i am in awe over every detail, every moment of those difficult days that you have shared (i can only imagine the details of what you have not yet shared). Thank you with all my heart, Linny, for sharing those details, the experience, the pain and how the Lord took you through, cared for you, loved you and was faithful. We glean from your sharing…from your experiences….your walk through this and how you got through it. It blesses and encourages each of us who read it, that no matter the difficulty, the hardship, the utter pain and devastation…He is faithful, He loves us….He will see us through the valley with a deeper walk and faith that would never be accomplished otherwise. (Although i would really like to talk to Him about that last part…hahaha) The sweetness that comes after the trial…oh the beauty of the Lord. i am in awe! So thankful over you and your family's safety that day! So thankful for these last five years of "gleaning" (& praying!!) from all your life experiences that you have shared with us! Glory to God in the Highest for how He shines through you and your treasure family! "Those who are wise shall shine Like the brightness of the firmament, And those who turn many to righteousness Like the stars forever and ever." Daniel 12:3 Much love to you <3cindy

    1. lizzielou – God rescued us that day in a powerful way. There is more to the story, but suffice it to say – He is completely faithful, even during some of our darkest times.

  3. My house burned in 2009 (three days after Christmas, actually, but didn't have anything to do with Christmas "things" such as candles).
    It is a tough thing to go though. My family made it out in time, except for one beloved cat (whose, side story, sister survived, and when we finally moved back in 8 months later and brought our cat home, she searched the house meowing, we figure it was for him), so we don't have any dramatic story like you, but my parents still find it difficult to cope with. Me, I was 15 or 16 and I only mourned my cat, not the house or things, but everyone handles tough situations differently.

    I know it must be tough, all the things you lose, as a mother with your childrens' mementos, it must be difficult. We always say "where's the ___________?"…."was it pre-fire? or post fire?", and I would think it would be similar for you.

    Just letting you know you're not alone.

    1. Wow Olivia, thank you for sharing…I am so sorry for your losses and your parents trauma.

      The mementos was the most difficult. It's the little thing that this one or that one made…that's the hard stuff…and a 100 year old chest {not fancy} made for Grandma Emma when she was about to have her first baby {my fil}…the other furniture – oh well, but that beloved chest…and it was burned beyond recognition other than a little piece of the lid, which took me a full year to be willing to throw away.

      We say "pre-fire" as well. Most of our lives are pre-fire, post fire And if you ask me where something is, I can tell you where it was in the log home, but not in our current home…how weird is that? I think it's something in the brain that does that…

      I remember finding in my purse a receipt from the grocery store of stuff I bought the night before the fire. I cried when I found it…and could not throw it out for months. One day I said to my Emma, "Why am I so emotional about this dumb receipt?" She wisely thought about it and said, "I bet it's because it represents everything being 'normal'…." I'm convinced she was right.

      For me, personally, it was compounded by the enjoyment of just bringing home Elijah and Elizabeth being severely interrupted from all 'normalcy' and made traumatic and all the work that came as a result….the kids who were home and ran with the babies and i were most affected…

      We lived out in the country at the time, so we seldom heard sirens…now we live in the city of Pheonix and last night there were a zillion sirens {there are some every now and then, but these were lots and lots for quite a while}…it was night and Elijah came to me and said, "Mom would you pray with me?" He was concerned for the police/fire…and i have no doubt because of the fire…

      Anyway, thank you for sharing your story…I am grateful.

  4. Hi Linny,
    I have been thinking about this since I read the post last night. This morning I thought of something that might help turn this around for you. Maybe, like your celebration of being healed from MS, you could turn the 14th into a celebration day as well. Then when the 13th of January arrives, you can be planning for the celebration that God kept ALL of you! Even though that day and the months to follow were difficult, He brought you all through them. So you can exchange beauty for those ashes and the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness. Maybe even make a beautiful Joseph's coat sort of thing to wear as a visible, tangible reminder of the positive. a physical thing to chase away the fears?
    Anyway, it is a thought, and like the previous commenter, we have benefitted from what the Lord taught you in those days.
    Love in Christ – Sandy in the UK

    1. Sandy, I am sorry for any confusion that the post yesterday brought…I thought my last few sentences would explain how we have approached each anniversary of the fire:

      "With humble and reverent hearts we will solemnly thank the Lord for
      the rest of our lives for His very palpable presence that day five years ago.
      All praise, honor and glory to Almighty God.
      We were forever changed and we are eternally grateful for His
      protection, His provision and His providence."

      Sandy, we spent the day yesterday in continual praise and worship, mentioning by name many of the things that the Lord allowed as a result of the fire. We retold the Memorial Box story of the fire and with grateful hearts blessed the Lord over and over throughout the day.

      I did not spend even one moment in fear, however, the night before I definitely did feel fearful thoughts approaching – but I chose to take those captive and went to sleep in peace and slept well through the night.

      Being honest, I think unless someone has had a significant trauma it is hard to imagine the very real feelings and emotions attached to the memories of that trauma. Knowing how close we came to losing our lives, or the lives of some of our children is a sobering reality {not to mention the traumatic aftermath that ensued. Dw is very sobered because he *knows* how close it was and that I never, ever, ever would have left my babies in there, but would have died tried to get them out…and likely he would have lost all of us….that is reality and sobering!}

      We do not dread the anniversary of the 14th – not at all!! Rather we have chosen to humbly {and soberly} praise Him for all He did that day and the months/years that followed.

      He is completely faithful. We have definitely seen that over and over and over.

      Again, I'm sorry for the confusion. I hope that straightens it out better.

    2. Oh good! I do know about traumatic events and how God brings us through them. I love your memorial box idea and the stories you share about them. I have often called these things 'Ebenezer's' as in – hitherto has the Lord helped us.
      God Bless.
      Sandy

  5. Praising the Lord for His kindness in saving you all… I remember you mentioned a few years ago about that fire incident, that Dw stayed overnight at a place called Fire or something… and how weird was that. I personally think He was showing that He is before you in all things and it was a part of His blueprint in your life all we need to do is to completely trust Him through the scary times. "Trust in Lord with all thine heart and lean not unto thine own understanding". He is so good. It is difficult to understand why He permits things to happen but we walk by faith and not by sight. Praying for full peace within and strength in Him.

    1. Yes, Dw was staying at a place called "The Fireside Inn"…and actually Dw's life verse is the one you quoted…"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding"…He is good, so true sweet friend. His mercies are indeed new every morning.

  6. Linny,
    The day of the fire was the first time I read your blog….I got it from my cousin, Amy, who asked me to pray for your family.
    So, I started reading…The 14th is also my youngest son, Caleb's birthday….he is now 28….Anyway, the Lord is so faithful
    and merciful and reading your blog ever since has been a great thing to see how the Lord works in people's lives….
    From one season of life to another, He is our refuge and protection….
    Thank you for always sharing your heart.
    Love from NC

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