Well, God did it again! This is the third time that He has spared my home from destruction by wild-fire when it looked like it should have been a goner. There is quite a historical story behind this, I might go into that sometime. A short summary, were spared during the famous Oakland Fire-storm of 1991 (apparently more lives and homes were lost in this fire storm than any other since the 1906 earthquake.) We were spared on Aug 29, 1995 when a 5 alarm fire broke out at the base of the hillside and spread rapidly up the hill towards my house. The firemen able to stop the fire without a single house being destroyed. They were amazed that the entire neighborhood was not burned down. You can read the testimony at http://www.godspeak.org/walk/walk_8.html if you are interested.

The third time was on Sept 10, 2002. Let me share this experience with you. I went to work very early, arriving in San Francisco about 7:00 AM. There was nothing special about the day, the Lord did not say anything significant to me or give me any directions. It was a productive day at work. I took a 15 minute lunch break to run out and get a burrito, returning to my desk about 12:45. I noticed that the light was illuminated on my phone indicating I had a message. The message was from the secretary at my church. It was short and direct: "One of our preschool teachers heard on the radio that there is a big fire at the corner of Keller and Campus Drive. That is very near your home, and I did not know if you knew about it. We are all praying for you."

That was only 1/2 mile from my house. My first thought was, "My Dogs!" If there was a fire that was that near my house, the the dogs were probably in danger. I should have been panicking at this point, but I felt enveloped in a strange peace. I decided to leave work immediately and go home. Unfortunately, that was an hour commute.

Of course I prayed. And I thought of the things that I hoped I could rescue from the flames... my passport since I was about to leave on a ministry trip to Brazil ... and my ministry financial records. Both were in my home "office." But most important was the dogs. They were just puppies (10 and 11.5 months old) and they were in the yard and would not be able to get away if the fire came after them.

I remember praying as I walked to the BART station, "Lord, please protect my dogs." I had a mental picture of my house in flames and us loosing everything. But I did not feel a panic. I think that I would have been in real emotional trouble if left to my own devices, but God was with me. I had a mild sense of His presence. I remember thinking on at least 5 or 6 occasions that I should be very frazzled, but I was not. I got to the BART station and my train was just pulling out, which meant another 10 to 15 minutes delay while I waited for the next train. I wanted to get home as fast as possible. That should have really frustrated me, but for some reason I simply took it in stride and thought that I would simply have to trust God to take care of the dogs since I could not get home to evacuate them.

After a few minutes, there was an announcement on the loud speaker that the next train for my destination would arrive in 9 minutes. I sat down on a bench and continued praying. I was mindful of how God had spared my house in 1995, but how He had me pray to rebuke the devourer the night before. He had not led me in any such prayers, would He be willing to protect it again? I knew that just because I was His servant, He was not obligated to protect me from everything, and yet I found myself hoping in Him . I knew that no matter what happened to my possessions, He would take care of me and work things to His glory. I replayed a silly scenario in my mind of going first to the US passport office to get my incinerated passport re-issued then to the consulate to get another visa. Technically that could not be done in 8 business days I had before we left.. and there would be no way to get a birth certificate all the way from Illinois in time to get the reissued passport. But somehow God would work it out if He wanted me to go on this trip.

After only 4 minutes (not 9) a train to my destination pulled up. I got on it. My mind went back to my dogs. Lord, I prayed silently, will you spare their lives? Again I should have been panicking, but again I had this unexplainable peace surround me.

Then I remembered that I had my walkman with me, so I decided to listen to it. I could not remember which CD I had in it but decided that whatever was there would be fine, so I would not bother with changing the CD. As I started to turn it on, I heard God say, "Teresa, listen to the words to this first song. They are for you." Then the song "do it again Lord" began to play. The first phrase was "Lord, you alone give life..." and suddenly I knew I had my answer.. God was going to spare my dogs. The third phrase was "Do it Again Lord." Then I heard God say, "Teresa you asked Me if I will protect your house again. That is your answer." I considered the phrase, "do it again Lord," and decided that meant yes. So I had a praise and worship time the first half of my BART commute home. It is a 1/2 hour train ride.

As we got about 18 minutes into the trip, the train went past my house. We live on the top of a hill, so it is visible from the train. (I don't park at the closest BART station because cars tend to get vandalized there. So even though I was under my house and could see it, I still had another 12 minute train ride and then a 15 minute drive. I was so close and so far away.

When the train hit the West Oakland station (18 minutes into the commute), I had a clear view of my house and of the fire. There were small planes and helicopter circling it, dropping water on the fire. There was a lot of smoke (white smoke) and some flames were visible. What really shocked me was how close it was to my house. It was less than 2 blocks away, maybe closer. The visual stimulus effected my peace. I wanted to get home and get my dogs. I felt helpless because I was still 1/2 hour away from the house. That is a long time when the fire is only a block or two away from your home.

I pulled out my cell phone and called my husband. He was not at his desk, but I left a message that went something like this: "Hi Ed, I'm on the BART. I have a really clear view of the house and the fire. It looks like it is less than 2 blocks away from the house. I am about 1/2 hour away. But I have the RX7, which is too small to hold both dogs. So please come home with the van ASAP, I think we will need to evacuate the dogs." I hung up and the person next to me told me that they could not believe how calm I was since the fire was so close to my house.

Yea, I was pretty amazed that I was that clam too. I figured that it had to be God. The train finally arrived at the station where my car was. I hopped in the car and started home. My regular exit was blocked off, so I had to go the "back way" which took an extra 10 minutes. There were still helicopter and planes flying overhead, but they weren't dumping water as I drove past. I thought that was a good sign, the fire must be mostly out.

When I got about half a block from my home, I hit a roadblock and they were not going to let me go home. I pointed to my driveway and told him.. my dogs are in the yard. At least let me go get them. It is only 2 houses down.

"Wow," the guy said, "you live in that white house?"

I said yes. He said, "The fire was in your back yard. They did a water drop on it and your house is safe. Your dogs are safe. You are out of danger now. You can go to your house if you want to."

I was so amazed when I heard those words. There were all sorts of cars parked in front of my house, including some news vans. But from the front, there was no visual evidence of a fire. I brought the dogs into the house and looked out the back yard. We are digging a swimming pool, so the back yard is mostly a dirt and a big hole. The backyard is flat for about 20 feet and then drops down the hillside. The hillside is all natural brush and shrubbery. A patch near the top was burned and black, but it was surrounded on all sides by green shrub. I guess an ember must have jumped over the brush and ignited some dryer shrubs near the top of the hill. But no damage had been done.. my house was fine.

I never saw the really bad part of the fire, but I heard that the flames were leaping 50 feet into the air at some points. I saw a report on the news, and saw huge flames not that far from what looked like it was my house. I was told that it was a 5 alarm fire by some and a 6 alarm fire by others. I don't know what the difference is between a 5 or 6 alarm fire, but it was definitely a BIG fire.

The firefighters, and especially their captain, received a commendation for their efforts. It had been considered humanly impossible to save my neighborhood, and yet they did save it. Not a single house was burned. Two houses had minor damage from the fire, a few burnt shingles at one and burned patio furniture at the other. Everyone was amazed that they were able to contain the fire, especially the firemen. It was the top news story that night, toping even the heightened level of security alarm.

I am grateful to God for sparing my home and my possessions as well as sparing my dogs. I am truly amazed at the level of His peace that surrounded me that hour I was trying to make my way home and did not know if I had a home to go to. His peace is amazing. There is no way I could have worked that up on my own.. it truly passes all understanding.

Blessed by His great care and protection...