Thursday, March 3, 2011

Our House Fire 3/4/09 and 5QF-Did We Really Lose Everything?

I'm so glad you have stopped by to visit today! Some of you have been here before, and some for the first time, but today will be one of my most important blog posts-FOREVER!



First, our lives two years ago today (I am actually writing this the night before), and then on to the blog hop!


March 3, 2009


I watched my children get on the school bus, and when I got down to pray, I asked God to keep my children safe.


Sometimes we don't know the weight of our prayers, do we?

 March 4, 2009


My oldest working, my other two children in school, Dan was studying to preach at church that evening, and I was off to town to do laundry.
Dan called me on my cell phone, although with no signal, I got the message shortly later. The house was on fire, and burning to the ground. When I got home, the fire was almost out. Approximately one short hour after the fire, this is what I came home to:

Taken from the back yard, looking at the tree in the front yard thru the living room. Dakota's room is to the left, with a little bit of wall still standing. 
The standing partial wall and the wall that fell was my bedroom and Dakota's bedroom.



Front view of the livingroom.




The room that is still standing is the kitchen.


The kitchen and bathroom.


Fifteen years of marriage.

A fire that was completely out of control in 10 minutes time.

A house "completely" gone in one hour-except the garage they were able to save.

Did we really lose everything?





What did we still have?


We still have our friends, family and neighbors, and even total strangers, who showed us generosity on a very humbling level. Strangers offered to open up their homes for us to have a place to stay, neighbors we knew and didn't know gave us generous gifts of money and clothing, among the other ways they helped, and offered to help us.


We still have each other!
April 5, 2009


Amber and I called home to tell Dan we were on our way home, only to find out he and Dakota were on their way to the emergency room because they had been poisoned by carbon monoxide.


I still have the two most important men in my life!



April 9, 2009

I received the phone call from my brother in law that my hubby was in the hospital after taking a fall from a tree. After the first surgery and 9 days in the hospital, he came home.


A second surgery took place in August, 2009.


This is the chair my hubby has spent most of his last two years in. The chair was brand new-but is now worn out. But that just means that I am not a widow today. ♥
Today we live in a home that we're very happy in, and in a nice little community. We are very blessed.



Did we really lose everything?


No, we still have the most important things in life-our family, friends, and the Lord.


I just wanted this post to be a reminder that stuff is just STUFF, and can be replaced. I hope that each person that reads this today will tuck this little reminder in their hearts, in case you need it for a rainy day.


If you'd like to read the entire story, this is my long, detailed post on it-click here.





NOW! On to the Five Question Friday!!!


1. Have you ever forgotten your child in a store or at school? Um, I don't think I have! I guess that's where my obsessiveness comes in handy-I'm the type to check and re-check to make sure things aren't left turned on when we leave the house. That spills over to other areas of my life.


2. Where did you go on your very first date? (Like...first first, not first with your spouse or current significant other!) I believe it was to a movie, but you know, I'm getting really old and can't remember much else about it!


3. What's your "silly" fear? (We're not talking water and heights.) Okay, don't laugh! I live in Pennsylvania, and since I grew up a city girl, I have a 17 year long fear of.....


Bears. Black bears.

I cannot tell you how many people have told me, "Oh, they won't bother you if you don't bother them." But YOU grow up in the city where the biggest thing you've ever seen in a raccoon, and tell me that! If my car ever breaks down at night, I'm not worried about some bad guy coming and robbing me-I'm worried that a bear is gonna come out of the woods and MAUL me!

 



4. Confrontation: do you cause it, deal with is as it comes, or run far far away? I RUN!!! I HATE confrontation! I try to live by the wise words of Solomon, a soft answer turns away wrath.


5. Wood floors or carpet? Carpet, although I am taking a liking to wood floors more than before. After our house burned, we rented a home that I absolutely adored! And the bedrooms had wood floors. We've become good friends with the man who rented the home to us, and he was a fantastic help to my family when Dan was recovering from his injuries-always willing to help Dan and I, and our children if we needed anything. This is my shout out to Harry! Thanks, friend!

Anyway, I've already informed him that when I'm rich, I'm going to buy his house. It wasn't quite what we needed for our family of 5, but by the time I'm rich, my kids will all be married and moved out. Then I'll have a house with carpet, AND a house with wood floors! =D


Thanks for stopping by! I hope my blog has been worth your time today, and as always, I welcome your comments!


22 comments:

Liberal Stupidity said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Liberal Stupidity said...

This post really stirred up my emotions as I relived all that. I thank God every day for what we have. I rarely think of what we lost. I'm thankful I still have you Snookums!

Renegades said...

I love wood floors and my first date was to the movie too.

Unknown said...

This post is inspirational! Family is everything!

I don't blame you, I would be down right terrified of Black Bears. *ekkkk* scary!

Happy Friday!

Jodie (www.allgoodinmommyhood.com) said...

Such a touching post - a real reminder of what matters in life!

Oh yes, a soft answer truly does turn away wrath. If only everyone were so wise...

:)

Thanks for following me, I'm happily following you!

Only Prettier said...

As the wife of a fireman I was touched by your post.

Stacie said...

Love the thoughts that you shared about what really matters. We poor city girls are terribly underexposed to these country elements, like bears and mice! Thanks for stopping by!

Jodi said...

I can't imagine all that you've been through. Amazing that you can count your blessings after all of that. I don't think that's a silly fear! I've heard of black bears in parts of my home state too. (NJ)

Erin P said...

Thanks for stopping by my blog! :)

I have to say that it must be a city fear because we played in the woods all the time as kids (grew up in the country)...sometimes just a football field's length away from coyotes (no, we didn't realize it, but Grandma did & then we were no longer allowed to play there) and I never once thought about an animal hurting me. It still seems like a foreign concept.

nluvwthmybstfrnd said...

Thank you for posting this. What a great reminder of what's important in life.

TamTam said...

Thanks for stopping by my blog.
Family is everything! I was touched by your blog.

Anonymous said...

I'm new to your blog. SO sorry to hear about what happened a year ago. It must be a devastating experience. But I believe such experience makes a person stronger. You are a strong woman, Josanne! Thks for leaving me a comment.

Have a fantastic wkend!

Love,
Yvonne

Rachel said...

Hey lady! Thanks for commenting on my blog post today! I agree- bears are scary! Once we were hiking in Yellowstone and there were signs all over about bears and I was terrified the whole time!

Your fire story is so inspiring. Thanks for sharing it! I know its not happy but it did make me think, as you said at the end of it!

Rochelle@AFamilyofLooneys said...

I am not a fan of bears myself. We have had them near our house a couple of times. It freaked me out.
Thanks for following me. I love new blog friends.

Robin said...

Can't imagine losing my home in a fire, how terrible! but very touching reminder that a lot of stuff can be replaced but your famiky cannot. Thank God everyone was ok!
I would have the same fear about black bears. It wouldn't hinder me from being out in the mts but I sil would rather not run into a black bear. Thanks for visiting my blog, glad I got to visit yours :)

Faye said...

I, too, was very touched by this "walk down memory lane" post! Thank you for it.

Rachel said...

Hey! Thanks for your sweet comments on my blog! Wow, that fire looks...wow. Am glad nothing severe happened. God is good. Hope to visit you often!

Eastlyn and co. said...

Hi, Josanne! Thanks for stopping by my blog. As I was visiting other blogs (I usually choose a few random numbers and swing by for a visit on 5QF) I noticed you had visited many of them, too. It is quite obvious that God is the center of your life. So many others might have been discouraged or bitter over their circumstances. Instead, you took stock of what is truly important in life and moved on. Glad to hear you're enjoying your home in a new community...hopefully far away from any black bears LOL! I'll be back soon. And, oh yeah...hip, hip, hooray! That's three cheers for your sticking to your diet all last week.

Donna @ The House on the Corner said...

I cannot even begin to think of what you went through losing your house to a fire. But you came through it wiser and "richer" that before. So wonderful!

Anonymous said...

I really enjoyed your post Sister Josanne! I love you. It was an amazing post that I will always remember.

Mary kay said...

I really enjoyed your post Sis Josanne. I will always rember it. I love you.

Mary-Kay said...

Sis Josanne, The Anonymous is me. I accidentally posted Anonymous as me. Sorry!