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Sunday, early morning I was awakened by Charity coughing and throwing up. Both Will and I woke up and were able to clean things up easily. She didn't have the flu, but just choked on all of the drainage from her stuffy nose! Finally after awhile, I was able to get her to fall asleep, and I drifted off. Will couldn't fall back asleep and stayed up to do some extra work that he needed to finish. After about an hour and a half of beautiful sleep, I awoke again to the sound of an explosion of some sort. I always think the worst when I am woken up at night ...but, I stayed calm and listened a moment. Thinking all must be well, I was surprised to hear shouting and as I peeked through the window, there was my neighbor's home in flames. Being a quick response kind of gal, I lept out of bed, and grabbed the phone, calling out "the neighbor's house is on fire." Apparently I woke Tucker also and he took a few moments to find clothes, while I called 911. Our neighbor had a pretty incredible treehouse built right up against his fence near to the next house also and this treehouse was the what was actually on fire. We never found out exactly what caused the fire but as always there is speculating...as I spoke to the 911 dispatcher, my husband tore across the street joined by another couple of men who proceeded to bang on the doors and windows and yell at the people inside. The home was full of smoke to such an extent that by the time one of the young men came to the door, none of the rescuers could get in to find the others. They took time to wet their clothes and get ready to enter. Somehow two of the three fellows inside the house were able to drag the third guy out, since he was so sound asleep, he hadn't even heard the fire alarm. Back at my home, my four oldest came piling outside, with Tucker in the lead, shouting, "Mom, I want to go help!" This was said with tears streaming down his face. Gosh was I proud of him! At that exact moment the wind blew the sparks over to our house and I chased everyone inside to get shoes and coats on since I figured our home might be on fire if the winds kept up. I decided to let Charity sleep until I checked the roof and was sure there were flames. Thankfully since the rain kept the sparks at bay, she was able to sleep four more hours - very needed after her nighttime episode! Meanwhile the rest of the kids stormed outside just in time to see about five fire trucks and police cars explode onto the scene. It was the closest any of us had ever been to a fire and we were awestruck with how amazingly in sync the firemen worked. Will had come back to our house having rescued the three teenage boys from the house. The fire was put out reasonably quickly with minimal fire damage to the home, however the smoke damage was significant. We were all thankful that no lives were lost and for the opportunity we had had to help. I was so proud of my guys for the way that they both were willing to brave a fire to save someone. Tucker didn't get his chance this time, but it did my heart good to see how he reacted with courage not fully knowing the situation, yet being ready to help someone in danger. Our neighbors aren't Christians and we felt that it was appropriate that the three men involved in rescuing them are all believers! Sometimes I wonder how my children would react in an actual emergency and now I am glad and blessed to see that Tucker showed courage and concern mirroring his Daddy's brave act! Today I am thankful for firemen, my brave guys, and another chance to share Jesus with my neighbors! |
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Posted by Mrs. PT
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