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'Home' can never be taken from you
It was June 23, 2012, and I had just called my husband while on the way home from my annual Christian Science association meeting. He told me we were on mandatory evacuation from our house in Mountain Shadows, Colorado Springs, because of the Waldo Canyon fire. He’d pulled together a few days’ worth of clothing, but we didn’t anticipate being gone very long. We didn’t really think the fire would affect our neighborhood.
So, we got the dogs and the rest of our things to the car; and as I took one last look around the house, I quietly said, “God, the house is in Your hands.” We drove down the street for a couple of miles and checked into a local motel.
About a day later, police escorts allowed us to return home (for 30 minutes only) to check on the status of our home, as well as grab any belongings we could. A portion of the house had been burned—about 20 percent—but I continued to feel gratitude for the policemen who were watching over the neighborhood and the firefighters who were risking their lives to protect our homes.
I saw God's goodness surrounding us.
For the next four days we were surrounded by sirens and newscasts, but I had been spiritually fortified by the association address and remained focused on both seeing and doing good every day. I vowed to see daily evidence of God everywhere. I saw God’s goodness surrounding us in the form of motel discounts, temporary living accommodations offered by my in-laws, and a loving phone call from The Mother Church. A church friend found us rental housing. The owners made an exception for us, allowing us to have our two dogs when “no pets” had been the rule for 18 years. We also had friends and acquaintances offer to open up their homes to us.
And the blessings kept on coming. An insurance adjuster unexpectedly showed up on the day we were allowed to go back to our house; we found a building contractor through another contractor doing demolition work on the few burned areas of our house; a temporary job opportunity for my retired husband—working in our subdivision in his former line of work—came up; I helped with a 24/7 “prayer watch” for the community at my local church; flowers and baked bread from two new neighbors next to our rental home were given as thoughtful gifts; and the list goes on and on.
During this time, my daily study of the Christian Science Bible Lesson and phone calls with a Christian Science practitioner quickly gave me a better understanding of “home.” I understood that home could never be taken from me. The Bible says, “In him [God] we live, and move, and have our being” (Acts 17:28). Also, I came to appreciate a line from the Gospel of John: “In my Father’s house are many mansions” (14:2). Mansions! To me, this meant not living in a material structure, but in the abundantly beautiful atmosphere of our Father-Mother God.
Aside from the smoothness of all this, and really feeling “untouched” by the adverse conditions, I had also been praying to see God’s love more and more clearly. I took a stand that day in June, when we had to evacuate, to see only good, and prayed as Elisha prayed “open [my] eyes that [I] may see” (see II Kings 6:17). God had “opened my eyes” and showed me love in so many ways—without fail.
The renovation on our house hasn’t started yet, but as I write this, I already know that I am always “home.”