Thankful Thursday

A neighbor knocked on my door at 3:30 yesterday afternoon.

She asked me to come outside and from my driveway, this is what I saw.

Thick, black smoke rolling out of a house very near ours. 

The phone calls and texts started pouring in because friends know I'm home. "Do you know if everyone is ok? Can you tell whose house it is?"

I couldn't. But I could assure my friends that we (their kids included) were all safe here at my place.

My kids were curious, and after my babysitting kids left we took a walk.  

As we got closer the smell got stronger.  And this is what we saw.

Total devastation.  The heat index was well over 100 degrees but I had the chills.

We don't know the family well but from what I understand no one was hurt and so far they don't know the cause of the fire.

What I do know is that we will be praying for this family.  And although devastating seems not strong enough a word, I'm thankful no one was hurt.  I'm thankful for fire crews and emergency response crews who battled this fire in extreme heat.  I'm thankful for the police that safely directed the heavy traffic of curious community members.  I'm thankful for the opportunity to remind my children what to do in a fire.  I'm thankful for the tears that ran silently, unexpectedly down my cheeks- so sad for our neighbors and for the tragedy that struck so close to home.  I'm thankful for the kids' interest in this story- they must have checked my phone for news updates every five minutes last night, hoping to find a reason of what caused the fire- they're definitely concerned. 

Sometimes it's the little things, and sometimes, it's the really big things.

What are you thankful for today?