In the Blink of an EYE!

In the blink of an eye, YOUR life can change. Many of us think we have control over how life will go day after day. On December 4th, 2009, after a fantastic visit with friends we brought our family home on a very cold and stormy night and settled in to bed. A little more than 4 hours later, we were awaken to some ominous sounds and lights that did not fit with the storm. As I peered out my bedroom window, the reality of life soon flashed before me as 2 of my neighbour's homes were in flames and the fire was spreading quickly. Within 10 minutes, we were advised to wake our 2young girls as they were unable to get in to put out the fire and they were not sure how they were going to put out "the perfect storm." We gathered the few things that we deemed important and left our home. Both of us thought to ourselves, this is going to be the last time that we see our home that we had called our home for the previous 7 years. We gathered at the nearby 7-11 and as the time faded in to the night, we were joined by neighbour after neighbour. We were embraced by the staff with warm drinks and a warm place to stay and were frozen in time. All control was gone! We talked, we cried and we searched for neighbours that had yet to appear, fearing that they had not got out. Word quickly came that 3, then 4, then 5 homes were engulfed in flames and a possible 6th was now at risk. It seemed like an eternity when we finally got word that the fire was under control and everyone had gotten out safely. We decided to return to the friend's home that we had left only a few short hours earlier to resume some sort of normalcy. Although we feared, that OUR "Normal" had changed. In the blink of an eye, OUR life had changed. This was the start of something new. Our purpose had changed.