by What a day. My husband’s sister and her husband and three little ones live just down the country road from us. Today, their beautiful two-story 100 year old farm house burned to the ground. Firefighters are speculating that it started in the basement, but no one knows for sure. Thankfully my sister-in-law had just left the house to take her son to preschool, and my father-in-law, who works nearby, happened to see smoke and drove over to investigate.
You never know what the day holds. Our guys have been fighting fires every other night this week it seems like. High winds and fires don’t mix, let me tell you. My brother-in-law’s last words to my sister-in-law this morning when he left home for work were, “Call me if there’s a fire…” See, he’s a volunteer firefighter, just like my hubby. He’ll drop everything and head home to help the local crew if there’s a need. Today it was his house.
Please pray for them. They do have insurance, and a fire box protected all their important papers. God is good, and His hand was all over this situation, protecting and providing. Still, not a walk in the park.
Thank you!
There is so much to be grateful for in this – that no one was home, that they have good insurance, that their important papers were safe – but it’s still so upsetting for them. I’ll keep them in my prayers.
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Oh my goodness! I’m so glad no one was hurt. What a hugely stressful thing for them to go through, tho, and with 3 little ones! We’ll be praying.
yep my dh is a volunteer fireman too, unfortunately he seems house fires all the time. How sad for your sil and bil to lose their family home. Do they know what caused it?
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That is so devastating and discouraging! I hope they keep their heads held high and know God has a purpose in the midst of all of this!!!
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They are in my prayers! Thank God no one was home!
PS Mary-for some reason the notify me of followup comments via email thing isn’t working for me cause I never get any emails from here anymore. Is there something I am doing wrong maybe?
I’m so sorry to hear about their home! Thankfully they have supportive family like you.
Thank you all for your prayers and support. It’s been a stressful couple of days–feels like a week!
Amy…they don’t know what caused it.
Geri, I’m wondering if the comment notification plug-in was disabled when we installed the comment-luv option. I’m asking MInTheGap about it, he takes care of my website for me. I’ll let you know as soon as I figure it out!
Wow, I guess we never know what is around the corner. I will be praying for them.
Thanks Mary! How is everything going for your husband’s sister’s family?
Thank you for praying, Juli!
Geri, the outpouring of support from our community is mind-boggling! They are going to be okay, insurance-wise. Truly a blessing. They’ll never get over the loss, I’m sure. Who could? But they are handling it amazingly well. They’ve found a rental that they can move into next week, and the bank happens to own it and has said they can have it rent-free. Lots of generosity going around in the face of this tragedy.
Wow! It’s so nice to hear of communities that come together like that in time of crisis! I’m so glad to hear how well they are handling!
Thank you, Geri. I wholeheartedly agree with you. I think our community is pretty special, they’ve never hesitated in the past to throw fundraisers for children with cancer, or to help families deal with similar tragedies as what happened to my s&bil. Of course, it helps that they have children in the school system, and that they are well-liked and respected. People are going all out, it’s awesome to behold.
Hi Mary, I came by way of MInTheGap blog, where you responded to a comment of mine (I responded back).
Since you’re a Christian, I’m perplexed by your reaction to this tragedy. Shouldn’t you be rejoicing?
Everything that happens is accordance with God’s plan;
God’s plan is all-good;
Ergo, everything that happens is good.
The fire that burned down the house, as a part of God’s plan, must therefore be good.
At the very least, you cannot make a value judgment on whether the burned house is a tragedy, since you don’t know if it was actually part of God’s plan and works to a greater good down the road.
Hi Robert, I’m glad you stopped by. I’m also sorry that this perplexes you, as I very clearly stated that “God is good and His hand was all over this protecting and providing”. Yes, He allows tragedies to happen, and I do firmly believe that “all things work together for good to them that love the Lord”…but He also says to rejoice with those that rejoice and to weep with those who weep. Our God is very compassionate, and as His people we can be no less.
We may not understand it here on earth, but it is a comfort to know that all things are in His hands. This fire was indeed, a part of God’s plan, and I have no doubt that greater good is coming of it right at this moment. The evidence is all around in the way He’s moving to provide “exceeding abundantly above all we could ever ask or think”…
I’m glad you let me know that you responded to my comment at MInTheGap’s. I’ll be looking forward to reading it. Thanks again for sharing your thoughts here.
Hi Mary, no need to apologize, but your choice of words–calling the burned house “a tragedy”–struck me as odd considering that it was actually the work of an all-good, compassionate god.
A fire, a tornado, an earthquake, a tsunami, a mass genocide–all indeed the Lord’s work, which is, by definition, good.
The Problem of Evil is a thorny one for religions like Christianity. Lately, it seems, Christians resolve it by essentially denying evil.
For other Christians, the problem has led to some reconsideration of the nature of God.
So sorry to hear about this, Mary!!!
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Hi Robert,
Denying evil would be anti-Biblical, now wouldn’t it? Considering the “powers of darkness” as described in the Bible which have been waging spiritual warfare and wreaking havoc on this earth since Lucifer fell from greatness and took to prowling the earth, “seeking whom he may devour”. The Bible explains why there is evil and why God created us to choose between evil and good. We live in an evil world, and bad things happen as a result. If we believe that God created us, and that He allows all things to happen for our good…then we’re back to defining “good”. I happen to believe that our culture has a lot to learn about defining “good”. Money, for instance, is not the best thing for most of us. Can you tell I don’t buy into the “prosperity religion” philosophy? Nowhere in the Bible does God promise wealth, or people would be flocking to Him by the millions. He wants us to come to Him for the right reasons. To bring Him honor and glory and to recognize His sacrifice and our need for salvation, among other things.
On the same note, hardships grow us into better people. It’s a truly fascinating topic, and as much as I wish I could delve deeper right now, I’ve got to get some sleep! It’s late o’clock here. 🙂
Thanks, Holly, we just got them moved into a rental tonight. One week to the day later. The miracles continue to roll in, we’re all so thankful for how God is gracing them out. Still, they haven’t had a moment alone to crash, and they are truly craving all our prayers!
Hi Mary, this is an interesting discussion. It seems to me, however, that you’re having trouble grasping the implications of God as creator of all, a supposition I know you believe.
These “powers of darkness” you describe, from whence did they come? If you answer “Lucifer,” then the next obvious question is, from whence did Lucifer come?
See, it all comes back to God, as creator of all. It’s been my contention that Christians such as yourself cannot label anything evil as the word is properly understood, since it all originates with an omnibenevolent deity. Either you must:
1) Agree that God created evil, thus denying omnibenevolence; or
2) Agree that God is omnibenevolent, thus denying evil; or
3) Agree that there is another being, uncreated by God, who created evil; thus denying omnipotence.
You wrote,
Well, not quite. Good would be defined as “all things that happen to us”. Since things that happen to us could be anything, from winning the lottery to having our children drowned by a tsunami, there is no evil that happens to us (or anyone)–it’s all good!
how terrible. My husband was just thinking about joining our local volunteer fireman, but his buddy talked to him about his anxiety disorder and he decided against it in the end.
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Robert, by using the term “implications” you are “implying” that you can fathom the mind of God. Why wouldn’t He create angels and men with minds of their own? Why wouldn’t He want to stand on His own merits, rather than be followed by a bunch of minions He’d created with no minds of their own, only a driven need to serve Him? Instead, He did create “man in His own image”, yet in all fairness, He tipped things in a neutral favor by giving all of us old sin natures along with the will to choose between right and wrong. It really takes a detailed study of the Old and New Testaments to understand why He would do this, why He would create Lucifer…who was the highest of angels, who thought he could be better than God and as a result of that was banished to earth, renamed Satan, and who loves to deceive any and all who will look away from God and to him for the “truth”. Hopefully I’ll have time to address some of this in more detail on the blog, at a later date. I haven’t had time to keep up with this poor blog this week, much less debate meanings of good and bad, holiness and evil, etc.
Bethanie, fighting fires is part of my husband’s job as a volunteer firefighter, but he’s also had the odious task of helping remove the bodies of suicide victims, and responding to vehicle accidents with pretty seriously injured people. It is a lot to absorb. Someone needs to do it though, and dh seems to handle it okay.