Explosions & their Consequences....

Life outside of the USA is a daily adventure.  Not that living in the states doesn't make for an adventure in & of itself... but sometimes when you are outside of your home, you see & experience things in a way that you would have never ever known by staying "at home".  Daily we have moments of "why?", "How?", and "You would think that......" or my new favorite, "Never have I ever!"  It is easy to impose these questions & expressions when something seems strange or simply different than what you are used to.

                                                        Today, I was sitting at home watching my favorite online T.V show (QVC... home shopping for people that can't go to stores) It simply fills my feminine need to shop.  I hardly ever order anything because getting things here can be a mess, but I enjoy seeing the new things & simply knowing that they exist! (ha ha)  The 2 younger kids were playing, Isaiah was at a friends a few doors down, & Chris was cleaning up the remaining mess that was left after our plumbers replaced our hot water heater.  I noticed an explosion but honestly, we hear crazy noises, gunshots, explosions, & fireworks so often that I disregarded it.  A few moments later, Chris went to the car & started yelling to come to the door.  To our surprise, just 2 houses down there was a car engulfed in flames.  Since we live in a gated community for our safety, we were almost completely sure that it wasn't a protest.  We listened to neighbors & were able to find out the reason for these black clouds of smoke as they billowed from the car.  The owner of the car was simply backing out, but the catch was that he has had a gas leak for quite sometime.  Gas leaks here are very common because since gas is SOOOO cheap, no one really sees it as something worth fixing.  As he backed up the car backfired & in seconds was completely engulfed in flames.  Fortunately, the man quickly got out & no one was injured.

                                                                  The fire continued for about 30 minutes until the firemen arrived to put it out.  The manner in which the accident was handled definitely qualified the statement... "Never have I ever!"  But none the less, the flames were silenced & the smoke disappeared.  There are 2 interesting dynamics to this story.  The first, is that it sparked a thought in my mind... How often do we as Christians ignore the small sins in our lives thinking that they won't really effect anyone, just to find ourselves completely engulfed in a mess???  If we would simply fix the problems when they are small (like the gas leak) we could avoid such pain & hardship in the end.

                                                          The second thought is this... How often do we think that the problems only really effect us?  I mean, after all... they are OUR problems!  The part of this story that was the most difficult for us was that our oldest son, Isaiah, was also 2 doors from the fire... but on the other side.  He heard the explosions, saw black clouds rolling over his head, felt the heat from the billowing flames, saw masses of people & could not pass to see if his family was okay.  Isaiah has a fear of protests, riots, robbers, & groups of police.  This might sound strange for a 9 year old boy, but protests & riots are a daily part of life, robbers & violence are on a rise, & police are unfortunately, not always your friend... and to a kid, anyone carrying an AK-47 would be a bit scary, much less groups of them.  These fears in Isaiah are very real & unfortunately, justified.  Because of the negligence of someone simply not fixing a gas leak, a child was completely mortified & most likely will be dealing with this for weeks to come.  The things we do in life do in fact effect others whether they be good or bad!   May we always think about the things we do, not only to help us have a happier & more fulfilling life.... But also because we are a daily example to others.