Grace Under Fire

So there I was...going through my e-mails a couple days ago and saw where the guy who bought our house in Connecticut was asking me where we bought the wide plank oak flooring found in the dining room.  While trying to remember this for him, the memory of why were picking out oak flooring came flashing back.  It started on a Friday evening about twenty summers ago when Kim, Josh and I headed down to our boat to spend the weekend on the ocean as was our habit.  That evening a teenager, who lived in the neighborhood, burglarized our home and for whatever reason set fire to it before he left.  The house was a total loss.  My son's cat died in the fire and was buried by the firemen in the backyard.  We couldn't be found until late on Sunday so we were oblivious to the whole thing for almost two days.  The fire marshall who met us at the house that Sunday evening was so kind to us while we tried to figure out what happened.  Finally realizing it was arson, the State Police got involved.  The boy was caught a week later and there is a whole other story about how we became close to his family and the healing that God did in their lives.  Miracles do happen.  Our insurance company was wonderful and with their help we started rebuilding our lives and eventually our house.  I especially remember needing to go back to work so the night before I went to Eddie Bauer and told the sales associate I needed five shirts, five t-shirts, five pairs of pants, five pairs of socks, etc.  All of the incidentals we have and take for granted had to be purchased right away for our family to function.  When the rebuilding of the house started there were so many decisions to be made quickly, including what flooring to put in the new dining room, making the next year a bit overwhelming.  Neighbors in our little town, our church and so many friends went above and beyond with their acts of kindness, leaving us with a myriad of positive memories during a stressful period in our lives.  When it was time to sell the house and leave Connecticut we chose a real estate agent we felt to be competent and trustworthy only to find out that she was the daughter of the fire marshall that helped us through that initial realization, so many years ago, that all that we owned was gone.  Through God's grace, so much more was gained.