Looking out the window at a gentle rain, watching the birds preening in our tall evergreen, the world looks so tranquil and beautiful. I wonder, as I often do, at the intricacy of God’s amazing creation.
Then into the peace of this rainy spring morning, memories from last night intrude…
My stepdaughter and I are talking on the phone over her car’s speaker as she drives home from her job on a special ops military base. She is telling me about her busy day, made all the busier because she is working alone, while her only coworker is out sick. Having recently traveled by air, the coworker was tested for the novel coronavirus. Her test was negative, yaay.
As my stepdaughter pulls to a stop in front of her house, she is telling me that she plans to eat an early dinner and then go to bed right away, as she is very tired. She had major surgery back on January 17 and still has not fully recovered.
I am telling my stepdaughter goodbye, wishing her a restful night, when she suddenly says “Why is black smoke pouring out of that house down the street?”
She drives down about a block and a half, then says “I have to call 911, this house is on fire!” I disconnect our call and begin to pray.
More than an hour later, she is finally able to call back. The story she tells is very hard to hear. She had found a man lying on the ground just outside the blown out door of the burning house. He was burned all over his entire body. He was alive, but barely. If he lives, she said, he will be completely blind.
She was first on the scene, as the explosion and fire had just happened. She tried to move the man away from the burning house, but could not budge him on her own. Then a passerby came running over to help, and together they were able to move the burn victim far enough away from the fire.
My stepdaughter and the young man who helped her were so close to the fire that their hair was singed.
She lives in a very rural town. It took a long time before the fire trucks and EMTs got there. In the meantime, my stepdaughter, who has had some emergency medical training, was trying to keep the burn victim calm. He was able to talk somehow, even though the entire inside of his mouth was burned. When the emergency vehicles finally arrived, they were short handed. When they saw that she knew what she was doing, they asked my stepdaughter to ride along with the burn victim, to meet the helicopter that was on its way to airlift him to the nearest burn unit.
My stepdaughter called me again this morning, to chat over her car’s speakers as she drove to work. The adrenaline rush from last night had worn off, and she sounded very subdued. Wounded. Wounded by the trauma she had witnessed and experienced last night.
And now she is working, again all by herself, and I am once again staring out the window at the falling rain, the preening birds, the trees, the marvel of God’s creation.
Life is wonderful and terrible. And in a moment, everything can change, forever.
These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world. ~John 16:33
This post was inspired by: https://bcooper.wordpress.com/2020/03/13/a-lot-of-people/
Photo was found on: https://becomingtheoilandwine.com/2017/01/13/pick-sense-out-of-nonsense/
A Blog About Healing From PTSD 
Wonderful daughter always doing the right thing
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Yes, she is wonderful. She gets a lot of her wonderfulness from her daddy. ❤❤
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🥰
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🙏🏻❤️😭
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A great illustration how life can be both wonderful and terrible. I hope this burn victim knows the Lord Jesus, where life eternal and a new body await him!
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wow……..what a terrifying experience for her.
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That had to be terrifying. So glad she was there to help though, and she’s okay. We don’t know from one second to the next what will happen and that’s why we have to trust in the Lord.
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Wow! I can’t imagine that happening. And I cannot imagine the healing process if that man lives–the months of pain, treatment and all that goes with burns. I surely hope he knows the Lord. Was anyone else in the home?
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There were two other people in the burning house yesterday. They got out, apparently without any burns. I don’t want to say much more about it, because there is a criminal investigation and a lot of ugly rumors are going around.
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Oh, dear. That’s not good. I hope they get to the bottom of it before too long.
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Sad story, but you have a brave step daughter. Things can happen suddenly we always have to be in constant prayer.
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May God keep His hand of protection around you and those you love, Linda. ❤
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Thank you, dear Anna. I pray that God will bless and protect you and your loved ones, as well. ❤
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Thank God she was at the right time and the right place. The man may have a long road ahead but she helped save his life and that is a feeling very few have the chance to feel. 🙂
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How are you guys with everything going on?
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I’m feeling a little shell shocked with everything that’s going on in our country and in the world right now, but otherwise my husband and I are doing good. I have jury duty until September 4. I was on a trial last week, and another trial was scheduled for this coming Tuesday. But today I got an email from the jury clerk, stating that the US Supreme Court has ruled that all jury trials in the country must be postponed until after April 30. Which is a big relief, because at least a third of us on the jury are in the over 60 group, and a couple of the jurors were coughing last week, including the person sitting right next to me. Both the jury box and the jury room are small, with no space for social distancing. So, having this break is welcome news!
I appreciate your concern, very much. How are you doing?
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Wow glad the Supreme Court made the right decision! Doing ok but wow this virus thing is nothing like it before in my part of the county (Los Angeles)
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Oh man. I’m praying for you and your loved ones right now. My son, granddaughter, and 7 year old great-grandson live near San Francisco. My husband also has a granddaughter and a great-granddaughter near San Diego. Whew. I’m praying for California.
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Wow lots of family here in California; thank you for your prayers
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Wow! That is just awful!
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