What is REALLY important…

Last week we had a bit of a scare — we woke up at 2am to the smell of smoke.  It was definitely electrical and the house had a “haziness” to it, but no real billowing smoke.  After some frantic looking for possible obvious wires/plastic melting, we made the call to 911.  Our teens sons and I started to grab things to put in the cars.

I really wasn’t worried about the house burning down, but I was concerned about water damage once the fire department found the source of the smoke!  We had longer than usual to get some things together.  The smoke wasn’t bad, but we didn’t want to make too many trips in and out of the house.

I always wondered what I’d grab if there was a fire.  The first things I reached for were my back-up hard drive, photo albums, box of pictures, purse, keys and cell phone.  I made one more trip in and grabbed the important papers (birth certificates, etc.) we keep all together in a folder, my Bible, and my computer.  Even though the Fire Department did let my husband go in the house with them to help guide their search, I elected to stay out.  It ended up being a short in the central air conditioning unit that sits on our roof.  They disconnected it and turned off the breaker, so we were safe.

I’m so thankful — it could’ve been much worse!  As I’ve reflected on the events of that night, I find it interesting that, although I could have went in and grabbed more items, I didn’t.  Yet, there are so many “things” I cling to — that I think are so important.  Obviously not important enough to make another relatively safe trip back into the house that night.

Don’t get me wrong, there are many heirloom items I own that are precious to me.  I’ve been reminded that that, while I’m blessed to have many “things”, they are just objects and not what matters most in this world.

A wonderful cast iron tea kettle found at the thrift store.

The tea kettle was a “treasure” I picked up while visiting thrift stores with my hubby one weekend.  I enjoyed finding some cool and useful items for my homestead, but what I enjoyed most was spending time with my sweet husband  Faith and family — the really important things in this life!