Testimony Tuesday: Smoke alarms and Fire trucks

Well Matt and I were awakened out of a good deep sleep at about 6am this morning because every smoke detector in our house was going off.  (Grandparents--don't worry!  We are fine.  Our house is fine.)  We jumped out of bed and run to the kids' rooms. Matt grabbed Reid, I grabbed Lilly and we open the front door.  (Let me just note that they are both still sleeping soundly even though the smoke detectors are SO LOUD.)

At this point it dawns on us that (1) We do not see fire or smoke.  (2)We are not dressed for the outdoors.  So we throw proper clothing on and as we do the smoke alarms stop going off.    I tried to call the non-emergency fire department number but no one answers so I called 911 and the lady contacted the fire department.  I told them what happened and they told us to go outside and wait for them to get there.  There could be a fire in the wall or in the attic.

So we did.  Matt had the great idea to just get in the van and start a movie for the kids.  

So at around 6am this is what our house looked like.  They came and checked everything and we have no idea why they all went off.  They said that the lights on the smoke detectors didn't switch to red to show they had been tripped or anything.

So here is what I am thinking on this whole situation.

(1) In the beginning we didn't know there wasn't a fire.  So when we had seconds to decide what to do--we grabbed our kids and that was it.  No phones, no camera, no laptop--we went straight for the children and straight to the door.  (Tank was following us.)  And isn't that a perspective check??  Don't these situations just remind us of what is REALLY important???  Because in those few seconds when we had all of us safe (again, at the time we did not realize there was no danger) I was fully relieved and fine with losing whatever else. 

(2) I am just going to be honest here about my attitude for a minute.  After things settled and they searched the house and we knew everything was fine, I started to think..."What a fine way to start the day.  Woken up to smoke detectors.  I bet the kids won't go back to sleep and we are all going to just be cranky.  Ugh."  And then you know when you kind of feel like God is going, "Ahem..."  I realized this was the BEST CASE SCENARIO for this situation and I really needed to be thankful!  So my attitude was better and I began thanking God for our safety and other things. 

Then we walked in our house and I saw how messy it was and I was mortified.  Y'all--it could not have happened on a worse day.  Today is my usual deep cleaning day anyway but we are also in the middle of changing Reid's room into a big boy room so there is stuff everywhere!  And I started to get frustrated with the morning again.  And again I felt like God was saying, "Ahem..."

Well the kids went back to sleep and I decided to do my quiet time this morning, you know, since I was up and all. (:  And Proverbs 20:12 says, "Ears to hear and eyes to see--both are gifts from the Lord."  I take so much for granted!  And while I am doing my quiet time I start wondering "but WHY did it go off??"  And then I read Proverbs 20:24 "The Lord directs our steps, so why try to understand everything along the way?"

And do you guys know the two things (or really should I say two of the many things) I have been struggling with lately???  Being thankful and asking a lot of WHY questions.  So while I do not know WHY our smoke alarms went off at the crack of dawn this morning, I do know that the Lord is using it to tell me I need to be more thankful and let me know that I don't need to know all of the answers.  He's got this.  And I am blessed.