Last Wednesday night after watching “Survivor” (go Kim and Chelsea!) I headed to bed exhausted. About an hour-and-a-half later David came in quietly, not wanting to wake me. Around 11 p.m. I rolled over and, still half asleep, and thought I smelled something.
To make a long story short, the firemen showed up, put out the fire, and told us the smell was from the plastic on the heater which had burned. The next day the apartment complex sent over some mechanics who told us that the air filter from the AC unit (above the water heater) was full, which caused the pipes to clog, and eventually caused water to leak from the pipes and drip on the water heater thus starting the fire.
Why share all this on the blog? It’s not necessarily about what happened, but more about what I learned because of what happened.
The first thing that struck me was God’s protection of us. Even though smoke detectors weren’t going off, we woke up and were able to get the fire stopped before it got out of control. I can’t imagine what would have happened if we woke up 15 minutes later.
Another important detail was the timing of the fire. If the same incident happened two days later when we were out of town for the weekend, we may have come home to nothing.
The most important lesson, though, was not just God’s protection or the timing of the event. God was gracious to us, but even if we were injured or had lost everything, His goodness would still be intact. He is a good God no matter what.
But what about our apartment? What about all our wedding gifts? What about pictures and letters and things we cherish? I was reminded that possessions are good and can be blessings in my life, but my perspective is severely skewed if I think that possessions are my life. Whether I have a lot or a little materially, Jesus is everything to me spiritually.
Not even fire can take that away.
-Abbey Le Roy