This is our neighbor's house. It was hit by lightning this afternoon. It had been raining off and on all afternoon with periods of lightning and thunder. We didn't think much about it, except for the fact that Megan and Anna were here for a playdate and they were quite disappointed that they couldn't go outside.About 3:00, Megan, Timothy, Christopher and I were doing a craft in the kitchen when we heard a loud CRACK! My first thought was that it sounded like something must have gotten hit by lightning, but I peeked my head out the deck door, didn't see anything and let the thought go. About ten minutes later, we started hearing sirens and saw a few fire trucks zoom past. They sounded close, but still, after another peek out the door, I still didn't see anything so I went back to the craft table.
Curiosity got the best of me, and since Fred was upstairs, I ran out the front door to see what was going on because cars were now starting to stop in front of the house. This is what I saw.
The sad thing is, or maybe it's a good thing, the family was not home at the time. A dog was rescued, but a cat got spooked, ran to the basement and died in the fire. The house is destroyed, as you can see.
This has been a sobering afternoon for me because it is only because of God's protection and His decision that our house was spared. This random lightning strike was too close for comfort. Tonight there is a family whose lives have been turned upside down because of an act of God. They have no home to go back to. They have lost pretty much everything, if not from fire and water damage, then from smoke damage. The road is still blockaded tonight and they are not permitted back into their house. 
I still remember the shock of finding out that my aunt and uncle's home had burned to the ground when I was a teenager. It took weeks and months for reality to hit me, and I wasn't even directly affected by it. I can only imagine what this family is going to deal with in the next little while. Please pray for them with us, would you please? Those of you who have been through this before know how to pray more specifically, but I know that any prayers for them will help them to deal with this tragedy in their lives. Thank you.
6 comments:
Brings back many memories..both bad and good. Thankfully the good far surpass the bad! Somewhere I have a list of things to do post fire. I'll try to find it and e=mail the stuff to you. Perhaps you can share it with your neighbors. I've given it to several others since our fire. Mainly dealt with what we needed to do, know, document, etc. for insurance purposes...or will it make a difference in Canada? Our prayers are with your neighbors...and your family, too! So thankful God is still in control.
BTW, concentrating on all the good memories we had in the "barn" hleped overcome the sock of the loss...and it certainly put things in the right perspective for us! Thankful for the experience. We learned a lot, especially spiritually.
When I was a little girl we had a fire in the greenhouse that threatened our home in the middle of the night. The next morning, we sifted through the remains of the boiler room and saw the devastation of the dead plants. I remember mu mother shaking her head and saying that it was a loss and one that we could not afford, but no one was hurt and so we were blessed, God was good. I'm praying that your neighbors will come to see that, even with the losw of the cat,God is good.
Recently my friend's neighbors house burned down and the whole neighborhood had a garage sale to raise money to help them start over. It was really a testimony of their love and compassion.
Freaky!
Glad you're all safe.
I like the garage sale idea.
Still praying for you as well as your neighbors. What a shock.
Oh, my! Dad just said the sad part is you can only stand by and watch as it burns (greenhouse memories) Your houses are so close together, I'm glad it didn't spread any farther.
Our prayers are with your whole neighborhood.
(We were trying to figure out which house it was)
I will definitely be keeping this family in my prayers.
Good thing the family wasn't in the home.
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