The New Year....Emergencies and Emotions

Only three days into the new year and life has been full of emotions for me.  On New Year's Day we hosted a dinner.  The table was set, the food was ready but responding to a call kept the food warming.

Once everyone was there, we enjoyed a ham dinner only to be interrupted by another call out just before dessert.  Back they came for coffee and cheese cake and then off to work for the rest of the night shift.  The good part of the evening was that the seargent had his wife and little one year old visiting which meant another woman at the table and a toddler and oh, how I love little ones and another woman to talk to.  The bad part was that Ron was one of the guys responding to calls so he didn't get to sit and enjoy the evening but at least he got his supper between calls.

Yesterday morning the door bell rang which is quite unusual.  The guys usually just knock and if we know that they are coming they knock, yell "police" and come on in.  Yesterday was different.  When I opened the door, a young man stood there very broken.  He has just found a relative dead.  I began to cry as Ron rushed to get ready to go with this poor guy.  All I could do was bring him a cup of tea and a Kleenex box.  My heart ached for him.  I had to call Stephen to have someone to talk to.  He called back later to check on me.  I continued with my day by taking down the Christmas decorations but my mind would often be drawn back to the aching man at my door.  I had a hard time sleeping last night thinking about him and the rest of the community in mourning.

This morning after a restless sleep there was a loud pounding at our door.  Ron stumbled to the door, after coming in at at four in the morning, and was told to call for help.  Another house fire, another family loses a home, another tradegy in the community.

Taken from my front window

As I sit here on my couch watching the flames die down and the smoke billowing across the sky I think about the days when we lived in a parsonage and we would receive many knocks on the door for help.  Some people looking for prayer, for counselling, for money...one time even a place to have their baby.  Those were interesting times.  It is different now.  I feel a step away.  I don't respond to the calls but I hear about them and sometimes am witness to part of the procedure.  I have a little anxiety at times when I watch the guys leave for a call.  One thing is still the same, I can pray for the members here and I can pray for those who experience the tradegy.  Yes, today I will pray for this person's family who died so suddenly and so young yesterday and I will pray for this family who lost a home today.  I will pray for Ron when he goes to work tonight.

We never know what the next door knock will bring so I think the best way to open each door is with a little prayer.