Fall down seven times, get up
eight.
Japanese
proverb
It was
one of those phone calls that are forever date-stamped in your mind.
December
8, 2006 at about 4:00 p.m.
I’m
leaving a gas station near my home and my cell phone rings. It’s my mother. She
rarely calls my cell phone so I’m a little alarmed.
“Am’s
house burned down,” she says. “I have the kids in the car with me and they’re
crying. Thank God nobody was hurt. They weren’t at home when it happened.”
Shock
settles in.
This is
my youngest brother’s (nickname Am) brand new home. His family had been in there
for less than six months. Everyone had gotten up that morning and gone off to
work or school. My brother received a call from the fire department around 2:00
p.m. There’s been a fire at your house
– it’s a bad one.
The
devastation of coming home and seeing the residence they left intact earlier in
the day—with a car still parked in the garage—smoldering from the flames, took
an infernal like toll on them. Just thinking about what this experience would
be like paints an awful picture for anyone.
How do you move past that surreal visual?
The
family literally had only the clothes on their backs. No toothbrushes, valuables
destroyed. Family documents, memorabilia, photographs—all gone. They continued
to go through the dark holes of necessary and inevitable motions and emotions.
Is there a path out of this smoky trap?
An
outpouring of support from family, neighbors, friends and church members made
its way to them. Money, gift cards and clothing helped them meet immediate
needs. Lots of prayers and words of encouragement held them up as they dealt with
this plight.
The
next steps were finding a temporary place to stay, dealing with the insurance company
and a host of other unpleasant tasks. The emotional needs of the family were a
continuous priority for all of us. Comforting conversations with my nieces,
brother and sister-in-law were difficult, but necessary. They continued to
muddle through—looking for signs that things would soon normalize. Within six
months an intact foundation, in spite of the fire, allowed the house to be
rebuilt. They made some modifications from the old design that were actually better
for some aspects of their family life. In time, they came out of this ordeal
tested but with a testimony.
Trials
engulf our sense of security—temporarily. "Trouble don't last always" one of my favorite gospel songs
goes. Decisive and strategic digging is what's needed to get us through combustible
tunnels with these troubles on every side. Let’s get up and put out the energy
to overcome, staring at our trials with a fiery focus.
Emerging
from dark passages with our flashlights, let’s keep looking for new gifts of
brightness in solid and sure openings.
Excerpted from my motivational autobiography, Navigating Life’s Roadways: Stories of Insight from My Odyssey and Inspiration for Your Journey in print and Kindle eBook http://www.amazon.com/dp/B008FQDPYE
Excerpted from my motivational autobiography, Navigating Life’s Roadways: Stories of Insight from My Odyssey and Inspiration for Your Journey in print and Kindle eBook http://www.amazon.com/dp/B008FQDPYE
