(if you are viewing this via email, the website has a recording of this poem and commentary; click the title above)
Commentary
In case you didn’t read between the lines, we had a house fire. Our excellent neighbor Don put me and my son up for the night while Susan slept at her friend’s house. Jonathan slept in a guest room and I slept on a sleeper sofa in my neighbor’s den. I say “slept.” There was very little sleeping that night for any of us. As I lay there, I could look through Don’s kitchen window at the roof of our house. The background photo is one I took as I lay there, feeling compelled by my muse to memorialize the occasion in verse.
“Days That Lie Ahead”
As I write this commentary, it has been one week since the house fire. I’m learning some new lessons and relearning old ones:
1. Don’t worry…
2. There are people who love in practical ways…
3. God was providing for us to pay insurance premiums all those years….
One highlight was the way St. Bart’s Anglican Church snapped into action. The Associate Pastor over Worship and Pastoral Care, Jen Crider found us a luxurious home to stay in for several days while the owners were on vacation. Friends and family extended offers of help, although I didn’t know how to take them up on their offers at first. A special new friend (he’s a fellow poet!) and his wife washed clothes for us. Others donated cash. We feel loved. We’re experiencing some anxiety and plenty of confusion about the process. But we’re confident this will all turn out for God’s glory and our growth as His children.
Below is a poem I wrote on the second night after the fire. By then, we were comfortably ensconced in the home Jen Crider found for us (the Darnells bravely welcomed us three humans and our three cats into their home while they finished out their vacation).
