Out of the Ashes

              When  faith and family is all you have left, that is when you realize it is

all you ever needed.

                              

September 8, 2012 started out as any normal morning. Our new normal, that is. We were still adjusting to life with a nearly 3-year-old and a 4-week-old baby. Emary Kate had her breakfast, Ellie had a bottle, and daddy and mommy refueled with copious amounts of coffee.

The Gamecocks were playing that day, so Tyler and Emary Kate went to his sister's house to watch the game. I stayed home with Ellie and oohed and ahhed over her as she slept in her crib for the first time. I snapped a picture and sent it to Tyler with something like this, "She's ready to sleep in her crib tonight!"  One of the many things I loved about our home was that our girls' rooms were right down the hall. We had searched and searched for a house with that particular floor plan. I could sleep peacefully knowing my girls were just a few steps away.
   

Ellie and I met Tyler and Emary Kate at the door when they arrived home. I was ready to get out of the house. After being cooped up all day, and randomly without power for several hours; it was time for a new scenery. Tyler was leaving for a business trip the next morning and Emary Kate was tired. For a split second we debated on staying home and ordering take-out. Still, I was determined to leave the house since I would be home with the girls for the next week alone.

As we were leaving the house, I noticed Tyler had grabbed a blanket that did not match Ellie's outfit. I know, right?!? I dashed to her room to get a more appropriate one and tossed the misfit blanket on the kitchen counter. We pilled out the garage door, got into my car, closed the garage door, and pulled away from our home. For the last time.

 We enjoyed our first 'fancy restaurant' dinner as a new family of four at P.F. Changs in Greenville. I savored my favorite dish as I used my spare hand to feed Ellie her bottle. Tyler and I discussed his upcoming trip to California and how I wished I could tag along.  As we were preparing to pay the bill, we got a call from his sister. I will never forget the look on my husband's face as he told me, "Our house is on fire." From that moment, it is a blur. In some miraculous way, we paid the bill and loaded the girls in the car within a matter of minutes. I tossed the fortune cookies in the floor of the car as we began to drive to the scene that would forever be burned in my heart.

 As Tyler drove fiercely down the interstate, he asked me a series of questions -"Did you leave your curling iron on?" "No- the power was out, remember?" "What about the dryer? Was it running before the power went off?" "I don't know I can't remember." I begged him to slow down. What was the rush? To see everything we had ever worked for smoldering in the flames? Several miles away from home we saw the 40 foot flames towering over the tree tops. Clouds of smoke suffocated our home town.

We arrived at what seemed like a scene from a movie. This is not real. This is not my life. My eyes first landed on my sweet daughter's room, engulfed in flames, and I thought about all of her beloved toys, dolls, and books burning to ashes. People, cars, and three fire trucks fogged the street like the cloud of smoke above, blocking the sun. Neighbors standing in their yards. Friends standing by their cars. Waiting. Watching. Waiting for us. Watching helplessly.

 I heard them. They said, "That's the owners." "They're here. "I'm so sorry." "I don't know how this happened." "We heard a loud pop." "He jumped the fence to try to find the garden hose." "His wife took him to the hospital. He fell on his arm as he jumped over the fence." "What do you need?" I heard them. I did not respond. Words could not come. My eyes were fixed on our home. But, I did not see what they did. I saw the inside. All the things I cherished and worked for, burning in the flames.

My heart was burning with sadness and fear. And I cried out for Jesus to calm this raging fire, just as He calmed the wind and the waves.

The fire did not cease for nine hours. Nine hours we watched the firemen put out the flames, only to see them rage again. Nine hours we talked and prayed with family and friends. Nine hours we tried to determine our next steps. Nine hours I repeated one word, homeless.

God had plans for me though, plans to change my heart and put all my Faith in Him.

 Chisel away more of me so I can have more of Him.

 The story He is writing for me.

It will bring Him glory.

These ashes will bring Him glory.