Devastating Fire

I never thought that in my lifetime I would see anything as devastating as I have watched this week.  A fire that started in Waldo Canyon near Colorado Springs, Colorado has grown to over 18,000 acres resulting in over 32,000 people being evacuated and beautiful neighborhoods and trails burned to the ground.  Over 1,000 firefighters and 73 crews are working to put the blaze out, only 5% containment thus far.  I’m still trying to sort through all the emotions – tears come to my eyes when I think of the horrible loss this represents and I can only imagine what those who have lost their homes must be going through.

I cling to my walk with the Lord that has taught me “now is not forever.”  It helps me to have hope when things look hopeless.  My home in Florida was terribly damaged after hurricane Charley hit in 2004.  At the time I was struggling financially and I can remember questioning the Lord as to “why me?”  The Lord reminded me that the home was not mine but His and I was just a steward of the home.  Once I released myself to trust in His provision I found peace, and He walked me through the months of waiting, repair, and restoration.  The Lord has come through so many times for me.  I owe everything I am to the Lord.

I see the news, the pictures, the updates on Facebook and am heartbroken.  But I am reminded that everything belongs to Him and He determines the fate of every living thing on this Earth. I am in awe and humbled by the events of the past few days.

The fire has had my husband and I talking about what is really important – our family.  If we had time to gather anything it would be only some important documents and a few minor things – sentimental things.  I’ve gathered those things in a few boxes (just in case) and I can say it honestly isn’t very much and it is mostly tied to memories of people I’ve loved in my life.  Just like heaven, what you take into eternity are the relationships; all the other stuff stays behind. This morning the following Psalm caught my attention and I pray it brings any reader of this blog a renewed hope as it has me.