The Lord giveth, and the Lord taketh away. Blessed be the Name of the Lord!

Friday night we came home from our Christmas dinner at my work to find our home on fire. The fire was contained in the family room, but the smoke damage was throughout the house. I am posting some pictures of the house for those of you who might want to see them. I was really glad that I had taken pictures of it before the fire. Our things are all smoke covered and I don't know how much can really be cleaned and saved, but the Lord gave us opportunity to be able to salvage some, by helping us to get home from the dinner just in time to call 911. We will be meeting with the insurance adjusters tomorrow to determine what will be done. We are trusting in God that He will help all the right decisions to be made. Many people are asking what they can do to help, and we appreciate every prayer and every word of kindness. It tells us that we have more friends than we realized. At this point we are in a hotel until we can find an apartment or something in Bartlesville to get into. I did want to share this with you. I called Becky right after Dafne got 911 called and on their way (my kids were tremendous throughout the whole process) and she and Jerry jumped in their two vehicles and started over. She said that on the way she was just saying, "God, please stop that fire!" When all was said and done, probably Sunday, she realized and put it all together what a miracle God had done. The firefighters told us that in five more minutes the house would have exploded. They got there in the nick of time to keep it from going up in flames completely, thus losing all hopes of salvaging any sentimental things, CDs, pictures, or whatever. Thank God for praying family and praying friends. Becky and Jerry were so good to us that night. We can never repay their love and help to us, as well as other friends who showed up for support. Love like that cannot be bought. Bruce was there that evening, having gone to the dinner with Mandie, and I guess he got his share of initiation into the family! Scott was initiated by the tree that fell and crushed our house right before their wedding, and Bruce got to see us at our worst during the fire! He was all over the place, trying to help Manuel see if they could get in before the firetrucks got there, and of course they realized it was beyond what they could do, so they didn't go in, but he proved to be a true "son" to us, just like Scott did during our tree disaster! Noel was so strong and trying to help his dad, too. Mandie and Dafne were wonderful. Bianca was on the phone with us and it was as though while the fire raged inside, our family melted together. I am so thankful for the love that we share. I thank God we were not inside asleep! I thank him that even though our clothes are smoked, we still have most of them. Dafne lost her collection of hoodies which melted because they were hanging on the back of her bedroom door, but that can be replaced. (As a "funny" if there is anything funny, Dafne and one of her friends climbed through her bedroom window after the fire was out to save her denim skirts! She said, "It's hard to find skirts nowadays!" That's my Dafne, always thinking!) What can I say? God is dearer to me today than He ever has been.
Just a side note for those who really don't trust manufactured homes: I was really impressed by the durability of our home through the fire. Three of the bedroom doors were closed and those rooms had much less smoke damage. The doors were charred on the side of the fire, but the insides weren't that bad. The house burned like any normal house would. We did a lot of research on our home before we bought it and finally decided on one from Kansas Mobile Homes in Parsons. It's a Spirit brand. I'm sure if it is replaced, we will go back to them.
Please keep us in your prayers. Thank you.