Losing a house

Thinking of my Aunt and Uncle still today.

Above is my Dad's old chair,

blanket and ladybug pillow done by my Oma.

My Opa (Dutch for Grandpa) made intricate finely done

cross stitch pictures

and wood carvings;

One of the cross stitches that

he made is of the martinitoren in Holland.

He made 9 of them,

one for his wife, my Oma,

and then 8 more

one for each of his children.

Now one of my Opa's martinitoren's is gone.

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My Mother and I talked about it today,

and how loss is always a call to pray and seek God;

and that all is dust to dust

that we cannot take anything with us.

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But still,

it is a loss.

My Uncle built that house over many years;

the builder of the house has lost his house.

Beautiful wood floors, wood paneling,

old dishes

long wood dining table,

cabinets

wooden wardrobes

things of beauty...

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Beauty is in ashes

and the day of the fire

the fire being at night

another one of my Uncles

who lives out West,

was just visiting his sister and brother-in-law,

took detailed pictures of

every room of the house

to show to Oma, his and my Aunt's Mother.

So on my Uncle's camera are the only

pictures they have of the house

and taken the day it burnt.

The house was beautifully made up for

the pictures.

What a blessing to have

and, pragmatic that I am,

I thought of how good it is to have for insurance purposes.

Now of course my Uncle needs to get those pictures downloaded and printed.

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So a small mercy already.

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I have been so encouraged by the blog comments and emails

assuring of further prayer for them.

(Thank you!)

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Winter will be coming soon where they live

so they have a lot of figuring out to do.

My Uncle especially is struggling with the loss of their house;

their barn and vehicles were spared

which is another blessing.

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I am blessed to have them in my life;

I have pictures of them on my bookshelf

that I see everyday.

Pictures that now I need to see about getting reprinted

so that they will have a small record left of past days.

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I can't imagine losing the pictures

or the computer,

the list goes on...

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Yet,

the Lord is good to us

and I pray that this event will only further salvation

of all involved.

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With Job, who lost all but his wife, and all the Saints,

we can praise God saying,

Glory to God for all things!

Glory to Him in the Highest!

Glory to Him in the Heavens

who has come down

in great humility to save us,

Glory to You O God, Glory to You.