As I write, Monday,  we are one week and a day after we saw the first plumes of smoke out our window.  What a week it has been.  Sunday we went to our church which meets in rooms of 50.  Afterward, we went to our dear friends’ house with another couple for an outdoor BBQ lunch.  Time with friends is treasured more than ever in these days of restrictions.  It was delightful to just be together and talk.  About supper time we headed home.  Suddenly a high wind struck our house knocking over our large pots of trees and anything else that could be moved.  And then it kept blowing.  Winds over 60 miles an hour buffeted the house all evening and through the night.  The constant noise was wearing.  And Monday morning saw no let-up.  We watched from our living room windows as the smoke ballooned over a bigger area.  We knew the temperatures in the high nineties, no rain for two months, and now the high winds could spell danger.  Tuesday late morning, our next-door neighbors told us they had been up during the night watching flames on the ridge several miles from our house.  We had slept thru it all.  By mid-day, the smoke from that fire was creeping toward us, blotting out the sky as it came and covering everything with haze.

Two hours later, a smoke cloud of impressive proportions approached from the opposite direction.  There were fires on two sides!  Shortly after, smoke came toward us from yet a different direction.  One neighbor left with her foster child.  Husband kept repeating that our house is defensible and there’s no reason to evacuate.  We have no trees close to our house, and we have a metal roof and concrete siding.  However, we are surrounded by forest.  And air quality is something to think about.  Our neighbor in a less defensible house had already left with their 15 breeding dogs.  Our next-door neighbor on the other side was packing their RV.  We were beginning to wonder if it would be wise to leave, too, and get out of the smoke.  At about 5:00 pm we heard a strong knock on the door.  There stood a police officer.  Our area was under evacuation orders, he told us, so leave Now.  Husband asked what would happen if we didn’t leave.  The officer was polite and patient and explained that we could decline and he would record our names and address.  They couldn’t guarantee our protection if we chose to stay.  So we decided to leave.

Four totes of family photos and a few documents went into our car first.  Then my computer and external drives that held my life’s work and tools to continue that work.  Lastly, a few clothes.  But we couldn’t go to our daughter’s house who lives 15 minutes away because their house was in grave danger- much more than ours, and they were also hurriedly evacuating with their two daughters.   In a quick phone conversation with our daughter, we heard our 8-year-old granddaughter crying in the background because they had to leave their beloved donkey, and cat, and their cow behind.  They were heading to her husband’s parents’ house.  Our son who lives about 50 minutes away cheerfully opened his home to us.  As we drove to his house, we were appalled at the smoke hanging ominously over the little town closest to us.  It was much worse than at our house.  Pitch black and dense, it looked like some apocalyptic movie.  The roads were bumper to bumper with evacuees.  We were grateful we had a safe, loving place to go.  Kitty was in a carrier on my lap and often told us how unhappy he was about the situation. Having our cat with us made me feel guilty knowing how  our son normally is opposed to indoor pets.  But as if his wife could read my mind, my cell phone rang.  Our dear daughter-in-law asked if we had kitty.  I guiltily answered in the affirmative, holding my breath.  “Oh, good!” she said, “I didn’t know how I was going to explain to the girls if you didn’t.  They’re so excited that he’s coming.”  Whew!  Thankful for granddaughters who love our kitty.

When we finally arrived at our youngest son’s house, they graciously welcomed us and set us up in their office.  The girls squealed in delight at everything kitty did.  It felt so good to be safe and enjoy the company of our son and his family.  Wednesday dawned clear and blue at their house and we could almost forget the smoke and fire we had come out of.  Until about noon.  News reports of fires spreading at alarming rates near the town close by made us start watching the sky.  Evacuation maps showed that our son’s house was next to be in danger.  At 2:00 pm our daughter-in-law handed a garbage bag to each daughter and calmly told them to put their favorite clothes, toys, and stuffed animals in their bag.  Minutes later we realized the four-year-old had filled her bag to the top with clothes.  Her explanation?  She liked all her clothes!  Her older sister, 7, declared that there were only three articles of clothing remaining in little sister’s dresser.  Laughing was good medicine.  There was no panic.  Three pretty covered boxes with their keepsakes were at the door with the girls’ garbage bags.  We had little with us to pack.  Our son came home early from work.  We sat and talked and watched the sky.  About supper time our son told his family that it was time.  “I’m not waiting until we have to wake the girls in the middle of the night to evacuate.”  He chose to go to the home of friends in a safer location before the roads were completely clogged with other evacuees.  So off we went again for the second time in 24 hours.

At short notice, lifetime friends opened their home to us- and kitty.  A quick call to our oldest son to check in.  When we said we had evacuated from his younger brother’s house, he asked which area we were headed to.  When I told him, he said, “Let me guess.  You’re going to J and S’s house, right?”  How well he knew the generous hearts of these friends who have already sheltered us twice before.  Whenever we’re in desperate straits, they have taken us in -and our six kids!  Do you know anyone that brave?!  What sweet fellowship we had the next few days.  We talked about everything from their son’s upcoming wedding to Bible prophecy, to their younger years.  God’s hand on them is so evident.  Saturday was a special time with two other lifetime friends who joined us for hours of catching up, meeting the bride-to-be, and just encouraging each other.  Late in the afternoon we decided to pack once more and  try to go home.  By this time the smoke hung heavy over the entire metro and rural areas.  The fires weren’t spreading so fast now that the winds were calm.  And could the smoke be any worse at our own house than here?  Once again, kitty voiced his disapproval at every curve, but we arrived safely home via a detour.  

Meanwhile,  each day after their evacuation our daughter and her husband returned amidst crazy smoke to check on things and take other valuable things like their tractor, (and cat!).  A kind volunteer showed up to trailer their donkey to safety. He had put 1,000 miles on his truck and trailer in the past few days ferrying animals to safety.  He wouldn’t take any pay.  The fire monster crept closer breathing fire and smoke.  They despaired of their house.  No government fire crews were available to defend their neighborhood.  They wet down their yard and prayed.  But a band of local men stepped in to cut a fire line.  Day and night they worked with someone’s dozer, someone else’s water truck, and scores of men with chainsaws and pickaxes.  That’s what held the fire monster back from their home and their neighbors’.  Monday, their power was restored and they are in their home.  They understand what could have happened and did happen to so many.  They are grateful to a merciful God.

On Monday, the smoke got brighter.  We remembered that there was a sun somewhere up there.  Husband and I ventured out for a short time for the first time in a week.  How good it felt!  That evening shortly before dark, I glanced out the window.  To my surprise and delight, what did I see?!!  Blue sky and some small clouds!  The first blue sky in over a week.  What a load seemed to slide off us!  We jumped up, took photos, and rejoiced.  One photo was sent to our next-door neighbor who is still evacuated.

But Tuesday and Wednesday, the smoke is back with a vengeance.  But so thankful for a taste of almost normal on Monday for a few hours.

So what did I learn from all this?

I learned that so many others have suffered greatly while we had it easy.
I learned that God spares who and what he chooses.
I learned that I was at peace with whatever God chose for us.
I learned that we have many friends who love us enough to pray for us.
I learned that hospitality is a healing balm.
I learned that sometimes I’m too numb to pray.
I learned that often I’m too distracted to meditate on God’s Word.
I learned how quickly I become self-absorbed.
I learned that my heart easily grows cold toward the Lover of my soul.
I learned that I desperately need other believers to spur me on in the faith.
I learned that taking initiative and working together can accomplish great things.
I learned that what each person does, affects those around them for good or ill.
I learned that God is good whether he takes or spares.