When Challenges Become Blessings

My biggest regret is that I don't have any photos to go along with this blog post.

Tonight, Justin and I were supposed to go on a date.  We were going to see the 6:30 showing of the new Hunger Games movie, "Catching Fire".  That, in itself, is ironic.

Mizzou was playing an important football game.  The game wasn't over in time for the 6:30 showing of "Catching Fire", so we postponed our date for the 9:40pm movie.  Now, it might be seen as a challenge that I had to put off my date for a football game.  However, that challenge would become a blessing when the kids were not home alone when it came time to call the fire department.

After the football game, Justin cleaned the ashes out of the fireplace, took the ashes outside, and dumped them behind the carport.  Then, he came inside and we all watched "Despicable Me 2".

After that movie ended, we started the process of getting the kids ready for bed.  We had family prayer, and sent the boys upstairs to brush their teeth.  It was then that something caught Justin's eye outside the kitchen window... 

Our carport is pretty full of stuff.  So full, in fact, that there is not room to park any cars.  There are stacks of dry, seasoned firewood, lots of bicycles, a couple of dirt bikes, a four wheeler, Mule and Skid Steer.  There are large cans of gasoline, a gas-powered leaf blower, and in certain seasons, a riding lawn mower.  The fact that there is not room for a car in the carport may be seen as a challenge.  However, that challenge would become a blessing when there were no cars destroyed when the fireplace ashes caught the carport on fire.

Justin rushed outside, then back in again calling for help.  The outside pipes and water hose were frozen, so I enlisted the boys to carry wet towels, buckets and bowls of water from the bathtub out to the fire.  Justin called the fire department.  The fire had consumed the four wheeler, one of the bikes, and much of the fire wood.  It had spread up the hill to a cluster of pine trees behind the carport.  The flames had ascended the trunk of one of the trees and was steadily creeping higher. 

I must say that our little crew did an excellent job fighting the fire.  They worked quickly as a team, passing buckets one to another, and getting most of the carport soaked and fire-free.  In time, the fire trucks came, and took care of the trees and whatever was left of the embers.  It might be seen as a challenge that my kitchen floor, living room carpet, towels and bathtub were covered in ashes and leaves and mud throughout this whole process.  However, it is a blessing that my carpet and towels were already old and stained, so the mess didn't matter so much, and that my children were given an opportunity to practice working together quickly and calmly in a crisis. 

Justin and I never did make it to the 9:40 movie.  I guess we didn't really need to see "Catching Fire"... we lived it instead!