in one week...

In one week, many things can happen. Emotions can swing from joy to sorrow- beauty can be reduced to ashes. Time can change many things. We are thankful that we worship a God who is always the same--He never changes!

A week ago we visited our kids north of here. M&B are now quite settled in their new home.

They have done a wonderful job of decorating.

When we walked across the street, we found these guys awaiting us!

Jayden loved showing us his newest toy!

Pretty soon he had JimPa on the floor with him, too! We had a great time visiting with our kids and our precious grandson. (It was so much fun to see him crawling around now.)

We went about our activities all week long, never dreaming what awaited our area of the state. On Saturday, about mid-morning, the skies darkened and we could smell smoke. Soon we discovered that the wildfires had broken out to the east and north of us. (this picture was taken about 1:30PM)

Because the winds were so strong, the ashes and soot soon covered everything. (This is our front step)

This picture was taken from our front porch at 3PM. The fires continued to burn throughout the day and night. Several good friends of ours had to evacuate their homes, some others chose to stay and keep guard while the brave firefighters battled the flames. The winds continued strong all night long and shifted many times.

By Sunday morning, new fires had broken out to the north of us. With 24-hour news coverage of the devastation, we watched as many homes were destroyed in the flames. During our morning worship service, we prayed for the brave fire fighters, for the many people that had lost their homes and property, and we prayed that God would have mercy on us and send rain to our parched and scorched land.

And in the midst of all of this grayness, I noticed that our Bird of Paridise was blooming!

On Sunday afternoon, we were invited to some friends of ours for supper and a time of visiting. Kathy and Harry (and their daughter Sigrid) were delightful hosts!

These good friends were the reason behind our gathering! John and Joanne are now living on the east coast, and had come to the area for a short visit. So Kathy organized an evening when we could all get together. The evening went by all too quickly! Thanks Kathy and Harry for your hospitality. We had a wonderful time!

In one week, many things can change. In one day, many things can change, even in one hour or in one minute. We thank God for His unchanging faithfulness.