God Knows

The friend of a friend of mine posts a scripture writing plan on Facebook each month.  I don't know how she chooses which scripture to include, but I am confident God leads her in her choices.

The method of writing scripture which has proved profitable to me is to read through the days passage and decide what jumps out at me.  I purposed at the beginning to not look for something I wanted, but to trust God for emphasis.  Then as I write I
highlight the portion that stood out.  As days and weeks go by, I look back over the entries and read only the part that stood out to me.  It is amazing to me how those highlighted scriptures tie together. Not only that, but they speak directly to my heart and my need at the current time.

Through all of the horrid news this month, God has spoken to me in such a reassuring way.  I feel compelled to share what He has whispered to me this month:

July 1, Psalm 40:1-3
Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.

July 3, Psalm 37:5-9
Do not fret when men succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes.  Do not fret - it leads only to evil.

July 4, Psalm 37:10-11
A little while, and the wicked will be no more.

July 6, Lamentations 3:22-26
It is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.

July 7, Psalm 130:5-6
I wait for the Lord...more than watchmen wait for the morning.

July 8, Hebrews 10:35-36
(I actually read further and highlighted verse 37)
For in just a very little while,  "He who is coming will come and will not delay."

July 10, Ecclesiastes 3:11-14
He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end.

July 11, Isaiah 40:28-31
His understanding no one can fathom.

July 13, Hebrews 12:1-3
Let us fix our eyes on Jesus.  Consider Him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

July 14, 1 Peter 2:19-23
When they hurled their insults at Him, He did not retaliate.

July 15, Deuteronomy 31:6
Do not be afraid or terrified because of them.

(Note: I referenced the entire passage for each day but only typed the portion that stood out to me.)

The primary word that returns to my mind over and over is this:  "Do not fret - it leads only to evil."

As I am tempted to get riled up about our political situation,  God says do not fret - it only leads to evil. Perhaps the evil for me in this situation is growing angry toward people who hold different opinions from me.

As I am tempted to be fearful because of all the killing, God says do not fret - it only leads to evil.  Maybe the evil here is distrust of people who aren't like me.

I'm not positive of what the evils are that I am tempted toward, but I am absolutely certain God will keep me from the evil as I look to Him and wait quietly for His salvation.

What about you?  Do you feel afraid? Vengeful?  Uncertain of your future?   God wants to calm your heart too.  I encourage you to read the Bible if you don't already do so and ask God to speak His words of peace to your heart.

The Full Fire Story

I'm back to share more of the story of our brush with fire.

I have difficulty sleeping,  so recently I've been staying get up until about 1:30.  It seems when I stay up late I am able to sleep with little or no interruption for about 6 hours.  So I think it was just before 1:00 Thursday morning when I decided to use the bathroom before going to sleep.  While in the bathroom I heard the sound of wind, so I looked out the window to see how strong the wind was.  As I looked into our backyard I thought the tops of the trees looked peculiar-  they seemed to have an orange glow.   I decided to go to another room to try and determine what was causing the glow, thinking perhaps we had left some light on.  When I looked out our front window I saw fire coming down the hill straight ahead of us as well as to my right.  My first thought was we need to get out of here, but it must have been followed by doubt about how bad things seemed.  I woke my husband and said "I need you to come look at something".  He took one look out the window and said "Get the kids!"  I asked "should we leave?"  I guess I believe I am too often guilty of over-dramatizing things so I was doubting my instincts.  Eric just said "Yes!"

I woke each of the kids and said, quite calmly, "I need you to grab some clothes and get to the car.  There's a fire on the hill."  I rushed to throw some clothes on myself and I think I wondered if I should grab any belongings.  The fire looked so ominous that I just decided to get out, and I didn't take one single thing with me.

We drove down the hill, which was just crazy.  There was fire everywhere.   My daughter was texting her boyfriend who also lives in our neighborhood.   He had been awake, and he woke his parents.   We stopped in front of their house but, comfortable that they were aware of the danger, we continued on.  (They also left shortly afterwards. )

We went to a park nearby so that we could watch the fire.  I think I thought the fire would be put out in short order and we could return home.  However, that was not what happened.  Idaho in the summer is very hot and dry.  We typically have temperatures in the 90's and low 100's with little to no rain.  The land around our neighborhood is typical of the area - sage brush and dried grass (called cheet grass).  It ignites and  burns quickly.  Fire crews from 4 towns plus the Bureau of Land Management were on the scene, because these fires move quickly.   While we watched from the park, the fire continued racing in every direction, including down the hill.  It was impossible to know if our house was on fire.  I began to worry about the fire spreading to the park we were in.  There was only 1 way into or out of the park and I was afraid if any people were evacuating we could get trapped in the park.  So, at 1:30 a.m., I called my brother to ask if we could go to his house.  Poor guy. 

 We were all too wound up to sleep.  We sat around talking for awhile but my daughter and I needed to see what was happening so we headed out again.  All over the city people had parked their cars and were taking pictures of the fire - at 2:30 or 3 a.m.!  We joined the crowds and talked with people for a bit.  We looked around for about an hour before heading back to my brothers house.  Still unable to sleep, we left in hopes he could rest because he had to go to work in a couple of hours. 

We decided to go to a restaurant for breakfast.  In the rush to get out of our house, neither of the kids had put on shoes!  I don't know if it's illegal or just frowned upon, but generally you cannot go into a restaurant without shoes.  We tried to go to a store which we thought was open 24 hours a day, intending to buy the kids some shoes.  The store was not, in fact, open.  So we drove to the restaurant and Eric went in and asked if we could come in without shoes.  It was 4 a.m. and you could see the fire from the restaurant so they kindly allowed us in.

After picking at our food we decided to see if we could get to our house.  We could not.  There was a policeman at the entrance to our neighborhood and they were not allowing anyone to go up the hill.  He told us the Red Cross had set up an emergency gathering spot at a nearby  school and eventually we went there.  (After trying another turn at the park and discovering there were lots of mosquitoes!)  That was my first experience with disaster teams and although I didn't really need anything I was impressed by all of the volunteers.  They were ready to help with WHATEVER you needed.

Eventually we heard that we could go home.  The fire was still burning some grasslands,  but it was away from neighborhoods and the Fire department was confident it would not return.   (All of its fuel had been burned.)

That's it!  In the end there was only 1 house destroyed,  though originally we had been told 2.  Unfortunately,  the one house was an old home which had been in the family for 50+ years and we heard today it was not insured.  How awful for that family!

Here are some pictures which I captured from the internet:

Despite the terrible circumstances,  I love this picture.  The cross is a permanent fixture on an area called Table Rock.  The cross is illuminated and is an iconic symbol of Boise.  I love the illuminated cross in the midst of the huge fire.  (By the way, it has been determined that the cause of the fire was someone shooting off fireworks up at Table Rock.  A witness says a firework went into the grass and ignited it immediately.   The people responsible ran off.)

The next picture was taken by me.  I realize it's terrible.  I took this from my garage before I jumped into my car.

Finally, here is a bit of what things look like today.  There is a lot of scorched earth!  I am thankful to the firemen who did an excellent job of keeping the fire away from homes.  (It literally burned right to the property line of every house on the perimeter of the neighborhood.)  I am also grateful to friends around the world who saw my quick plea on Facebook for prayers and who, I know, prayed.  And of course I am grateful to God.  Even if we lost our house I knew He would care for us. He has blessed us far beyond anything we deserve.   

We had a bit of excitement last night.  About 1:00 a.m. I looked out our dining room window and saw fire everywhere.  I woke my husband who took one look and said "get the kids".  We got the kids and the dog and raced down the hill we live on.

It's a long story and I'm exhausted.   Short story is we're fine and our house is fine.  One family lost their house.  We are thankful it was "only" one.  The entire perimeter of our neighborhood burned.

I'll try to share more tomorrow.