So, I set myself on fire the other day.
I mean no ER visit was required, but clothes had to be thrown away because they were not salvagable.
The Honey left town for a while and to ease the pain we took a little walk. I told the kids it was because the weather was so nice but it was actually because we had some trash that had blown out in the fields that needed to picked up.
Suckers.
We enjoyed our walk and I enjoyed the tidied field. We managed to head down to the creek to get our feet wet and make some memories. But before we went inside I thought I would try to help out by burning the trash we had collected.
Me and my big ideas.
So the wind was up more than I thought and it caused some of the grass in the garden to catch on fire. The boys and I stomped it out while Sweet Yahoo and Baby stood there looking a bit shell shocked and helpless.
Within a few minutes the fire on the ground was out.
But I still smelled smoked.
Oh, oops. Look at that! It's me!
On fire.
A small pat down and a bucket of water later and all is well. Except for several gaping holes in my coat we were all unscathed. So we made our way back inside to make ourselves some bologna sandwiches.
Because nothing says "I escaped a third degree burn" like a bologna sandwich.
I was tickled by the whole event. But The Yahoos? The Yahoos were a bit unnerved by it. And alas the thought that their mother could have literally been Alicia Keys' Girl On Fire moved them to action. As I made their sandwiches I sent them upstairs to take their baths. But instead, they ran ME a bath. They lit candles and cleaned the bathroom and even unwrapped for me a new bar of soap.
Isn't that sweet?
So, Moms, the moral of this story: Anytime you are feeling a little unnoticed or underappreciated the quick fix is to strike a match.
After the bath I did some extra cuddling with the kiddos and a movie night. I thought they needed to unwind a bit. As I was sitting there on the couch with them one of them mentioned how I didn't even smell like smoke anymore.And that reminded me of something.
I have been through a bazillion Bible studies, but the one that sticks with me the most is a Beth Moore study through Daniel. And one of the biggest things I took away from that was when she shed light on how Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego handled the fiery furnace.
So Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego came out of the fire, and the satraps, prefects, governors and royal advisers crowded around them. They saw that the fire had not harmed their bodies, nor was a hair of their heads singed; their robes were not scorched, and there was no smell of fire on them.
Daniel 3:26-27
We all face our fiery furnaces in this life. And though most are not of the literal kind, they are difficult. Beneficial and fruitful, but difficult. But when we get through our trial, do we still have the smell of smoke on us? Is it obvious we are still wearing the pain of the trial or have we left it behind? Do we allow the trial to refine us or embitter us?
Trials are difficult, even heartbreaking at times. But the trials we are allowed to go through are not to harden us, but to heal us. To heal us from ourselves. To mold us into the image of the One who took our Fiery Furnace for us. And the end result is not to burn us, but to perfect us.
In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ
1Peter 1:6-7
Do you smell smoke?
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