Don't ask me why, but for the longest time I have kind of wanted to lose something due to a fire. I never wanted to lose my dorm room or my house, because those are far too personal and that would mean all my personal belongings, pictures, memories, etc. but something somewhat trivial...just so I could be one of those people who say, "Oh, that? No...we lost that in the fire." When our 34 foot motorhome burnt to the ground in 2003, that was no biggie. Sure, it was a lot of family memories, but everything in our motorhome was pretty much second-hand anyway, so besides some beach towels my grandmother had sewed our names on to, it didn't feel like a huge loss.
This morning I learned that I never want to be one of those people who say, "Oh, that? No...we lost that in the fire."
My dad came in my room at 3am, saying "Abigail...Abigail...the church is burning." "Uhh...what?" I replied, half asleep. "Abigail...the church is burning." "Dad...I heard you, but what do you mean?" "The church is on fire! I'm heading down there right now...you might need to think of a plan B for Sports Camp today...I'm not sure how bad it is, but it sounds bad. Sheldon said they could smell it over at the hospital." 'The hospital? That is almost 3 miles away,' I thought as I drifted back to sleep, dreaming of burning buildings and plan Bs.
3 1/2 hours later...
"Abigail, we are going to kick in your office door or something to get in there. We don't have much time before the firefighters kick us out. What do you need? Is there anything specific I need to grab?" "Uhh...grab my curriculum on the floor...in the boxes." "It's all wet hunny, anything that was on the floor is ruined. I got your bulletin board, your pictures, your desk drawers...anything else?"
What. A. Day. I can't describe everything that happened between me arriving at church at 7:45am and me leaving church at 8:30pm. All I know are these things: God is faithful. It was hot and muggy. We had 70 kids attend the last day of Sports Camp today. Pastors and ministries from all over the city stopped by to offer help in the coming weeks. We had a dinner for all of the kids and their families in which about 150-175 people attended. God brought my uncle to the church tonight and might bring him back on Sunday morning. God is good, all the time. This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it...for He has plans for us; plans to prosper us and not to harm us, plans to give us HOPE and a future. Blessed be the name of the Lord.
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