God Will Make This Trial A Blessing

Today is a bittersweet day for me. It is my oldest son’s birthday, it is also the anniversary of the day our barn burned down 11 years ago. The memory of that tragic fire still evoke painful memories but the Lord does bring blessings from our trials. Here is what happened that night.

We awoke at 4:10 am to pounding on the downstairs door. My husband, John and I woke simultaneously as we heard the pounding. We jumped out of bed and he ran to the window. I will never forget those words “the barn’s on fire”. I didn’t know what to do first. I ran downstairs and opened the door to my frantic neighbor and asked her if she had called the fire department. She said no, that she wanted to wake us first. I left the door open and ran back inside and called 911. John was upstairs waking the children and I knew there wasn’t much time to try and save the animals and our cars that were parked in front of the barn.

I told my daughter who had joined me on the porch to gather all the car keys and I was going to try and save the animals. I ran to the barn and let my dog out. Then I entered the barn to let my goats out. I had 2 baby goats that were locked in a room right inside the now flaming structure. I saw flames completely engulfing the doorway and I knew it was hopeless. I then ran to the corral and literally jumped over the farm fence. I called to my goats and they answered me from the back corner of the corral. They had been able to exit the barn safely on their own. I couldn’t reach the chickens so I ran back to the house to get the keys. I began moving the cars away from the barn which was now totally engulfed in flames.

I was able to move all the cars before the barn began collapsing and huge embers were falling in the driveway. I then ran back to the corral to move my goats to a safer location. The heat was now so intense you could feel it on the other side of the pasture.

At some point I realized the firemen had come. They told us the barn was a hopeless cause and they would try and save our house. The siding was already melting  on the house. They told us we would have to leave the house. I realized I was only wearing my nightgown, I was barefoot and didn’t have my contact lenses in. Wow. Adrenaline will allow you to do incredible things! My daughter saw me jump that fence and later told me it was unbelievable.

I walked in the house and looked around, knowing it might all burn very shortly. I realized there was nothing I wanted to take.  One of the kids had grabbed my purse, my dog was at my side and my family was outside on the far end of the porch.

I will continue part 2 tomorrow. Stay tuned!