We Had a House Fire and Lent is Still Coming

If you follow me on social media, you might have already heard that we had a house fire this past Saturday. Everyone is fine. I was home and caught it within seconds of it starting. The fire department responded very quickly and were able to put it out and save our home.

The fire originated in the kitchen breaker box. The box is completely ruined, as is the surrounding wall. Smoke damage is pretty extensive. There is no power to the house right now, aside from a tiny bit to run the furnace to prevent the pipes from freezing in our sub-zero temps.

It was just the baby and I home when it happened - my husband and the big kids were at swim lessons. It's still unclear why the fire started then. We weren't using any big appliances at the time and nothing looked overloaded.

I heard a bang while I was in the living room. Looked into the kitchen and saw smoke and some flames coming from the breaker box. I had a brief moment when I was considering filling a pot with water and was looking for the fire extinguisher. But the banging/popping sound kept happening, and whenever it did the smoke and flames came back bigger and bigger.

I quickly decided I needed to call 911 and evacuate with the baby. While on the phone with the 911 dispatch, I started throwing all flammable objects across the room from the flames. I ran upstairs and grabbed the baby, my snow boots, and our coats, and ran outside to wait for the fire truck.

Felicity did see the flames on our way out the door, and it deeply scared her. She screamed and cried like nothing I've ever heard from a small child. I put her in her snowsuit when we got outside. Once she was in her snowsuit, she just laid her head on me and wouldn't move or talk or react for a while.

Our neighbor popped out to tell us we could wait in her house while the firemen were working. Felicity perked up at the prospect of getting to see the neighbor boys and their dog. Matt and the big kids arrived home not long afterward. The kids all stayed with the neighbor most of the afternoon as Matt and I were in and out talking to the firemen, the electric company, on the phone with insurance, and packing up what clothes and food we could to last for a few days.

As far as I can understand it now, the sound I was hearing was the electricity arcing within the box. Even after the fire was out, the box continued to arc - hence why we have the power shut off to the house until everything is safely repaired.

For the foreseeable future we will be staying at a local extended stay hotel. Our community has been amazing: bringing us meals, doing laundry, helping with the kids, offering prayers, and generally rocking the whole showing up thing.

It's hard to fully appreciate all the little conveniences, routines, and support that are there until they're needed. Every little kindness shines so much stronger when you don't have a way to repay the kindness right now.

We're really very lucky. This happened in the middle of a sunny afternoon and was caught as quickly as possible. For many others it starts in the middle of the night when everyone is asleep. Many other people have lost their entire homes, and they're completely starting over. We're just inconvenienced and repairing.

Before all of this happened, I had already made my Lent plan. Per my usual, I do a give up, a take on, and a pray on.

I had intended to make my pray on an intention for the healing of victims of abuse, and will keep that.

My give up was intended to be a whole family one - meat. When we lived in California, we were better about eating a wide variety of vegetables and being adventurous in our daily meals. We've become a bit lax about it in the Midwest. I would not normally attempt a whole family diet-related Lenten practice, but since we had previously eaten this way much of the time, don't have any food restrictions, allergies, or aversions, and generally have people willing to eat what's made - it felt like a safe bet.
But the fire changed a lot of those good plans. We've decided to still shoot for meatless meals as much as possible, but if the choice is going to come between being grateful for someone's generosity or adhering to a dietary practice - I believe it would be better to humble ourselves and accept what is given. Because let's be real, that's the harder choice for me.

Now get ready to laugh at my hubris.

My take on was totally going to be a feel good one - intentional community. I wanted to reconnect with old and new friends, and be better about reaching out to them more often. That "be careful what you ask for" adage is sometimes very true.

The fire has drastically changed what our Lent will look like, but it might be for the better. I don't know how this will all play out, or when we will get to go home again, but I am more aware than ever how good we have it. This has been a time of renewal, trial by fire (literally), and an opportunity for growth in ways I would likely have never done without such a need.