Sunday, September 28, 2008

"Thank You Lord"

Today I made a big pot of chili and had it on the stove to eat after church tonight. About 10 minutes before we left for the evening service I turned on the eye. I have a gas stove so I put the flame at a med-low setting while I filled a sippy cup and put a few snacks in my bag for Justice. My intention was to get the chili hot and turn it off as we were walking out the door. That was at 5:20 pm.

At 7:30 pm we were all loading back into the van for the drive home when Michael excitedly said to the kids, "Let's go home and eat some chili!" ---Immediately it hit me. Panic...dread..fear...I almost couldn't breath. Did we have the number of our neighbor? Could we call him and ask him if the house was still standing? Had our neighbor already tried to call us?

I told Michael what I had done and we drove as quickly as possible to get home. I cried the whole way. Fear....most of the house would be gone. I knew it. The flame was high enough to cause major damage. I though of the precious items in my kitchen that would be gone. I thought of my dog and cat and tried to remember if they were inside or out. I looked toward the direction of our house the entire way back. Looking for smoke, smelling the air. Listening for sirens. Trying to remember what "911" is in Portugal....Is it "211" or is it "411"...I couldn't remember. Michael assured me it was OK. I insisted it wasn't. I knew what I had done and I couldn't believe I went to church with the stove on. I was punishing myself already. I KNEW there would be trouble.

We arrive at the house and I saw no smoke. I ran immediately to the back door almost afraid to grab the knob...would it be hot? I looked through the windows for smoke. As best I could tell there wasn't any. I opened the door and ran through into the kitchen. I smelled nothing...only a faint smell of chili. I turned on the light and ran to the stove. There sitting on the stove was a beautiful pot of chili. The perfect temperature for us to sit down to dinner right then. The knob on my stove was still set to the medium/low setting, but the flame was not on. It had not boiled over and drowned out the flame, and there was still plenty of gas. The flame had just gone out. And from the temperature of the chili it had gone out shortly after we left for church.

Overwhelmed I cried even harder. How could that have happend?

God blew that flame out as we were leaving for church. You can't convince me otherwise.

How many other times in my ignorance has He protected me? Other times that I had no knowledge of? What about you?

12 comments:

Pam--in America said...

Praise the LORD! That sounds like something I'd do. Was the house filled with gas fumes from the knob being on and the flame out?

Tori Leslie said...

Amen Nina!!!
He is so good to us to come behind us and fix our failings.

Wow, wonderful story, so glad all went well.

You know after we were in Croatia for about 4 years I caught our house on fire, bad! I left the oil on the stove making fries and it caught fire and engulfed the entire kitchen and finally when the fire was out the whole middle floor, and top floor were damaged and the kitchen was nonexistent. Luckily the house belonged to us so it wasn't a huge problem that way but it was a mess and I cried a lot too!

Glad God seen fit to fix your mistake before you made it!

Aurora said...

Wow I had no Idea your Sunday was even more exciting than mine. I am so glad that God worked everything out.

Anonymous said...

I'm so glad the house is o.k.

Makes me wonder why he is so good to us.I love Yall I'm so glad yall are o.k.

Lora's Life said...

Awesome, I needed a good "God fixed it" story this morning. I can almost picture God's big hand cupped around one side of his mouth, with a grin, as He gently blows out the flame. Then He takes His finger tips and stops the gas and puts it on a heavenly timer.

I am as convinced as you are. Thanks for sharing that.
Love you,
Mrs. Lora

Anonymous said...

Thank the LORD! He does take care of us when we don't even realize it. I have a good one for you. Someone called my sister Barbara the other night and it was the wrong #. She couldn't go back to sleep. She thought she heard a mouse. She kept laying there listening and desides to get up. She had a box, still in the bedroom where she had unpacked a new print, it had tape on it. Stuck to that tape was a little black and white striped snake, trying to get free. She killed it with a curtain rod. I'm convinced and she is too, that was no wrong #. God called her and woke her up. She has caller ID and there was no number listed on the machine. Aint God good! I sure do enjoy your blog and all the beautiful pictures of you and the rest of the family. Hope everyone is doing great. God Bless, Janet Robertson

Starla said...

Praise the Lord!!! I am glad that the Lord took care of your home and the chili.

Anonymous said...

How great is our God!!!!
By the way, your chili looked amazing too. Bet it would have been good while watching some SEC football :)
I love you guys and I miss you! I'm so glad that God is taking care of you over there!!!
Danielle

GRANDMA'S KITCHEN said...

Oh, I believe you Nina. God protects us many times some of those times I do not believe He even get the credit for. We just take it for granted that "the wind blew it out." I also belive that it what happened recently with us, I believe that God took His Hand and moved Hurricane IKE right out of the path of the area where we live. It was forcast to come here right up to just when it hit. God moved the center 50 miles down the road and I very sorry for those at Galveston but we prayed and asked to be spared if it was God'will to spare us. He did so I will not question why He did but I am thank ful that He did. So am I thankful that He took care of your home and your chili. What a great God we serve. connie

Anonymous said...

Yes God is good and so many times He takes care of things we mess up. I hope there is pot of that chili on the stove when we come to visit!
I love you so much!
Mom

Tracy said...

Wow! I had goose bumps~praise the Lord!

Tabatha said...

It is always wonderful when He chooses to give grace and mercy rather than "teaching us a lesson" in our mistakes. Recipe, please.....