31 days of change :: day 15 {change of plans}

Originally I had planned to talk about something finance-related today... my budget... my savings plans... my finance files.... something like that.  I planned to spend most of yesterday getting ahead in the blogosphere and writing 2 or 3 of this week's posts in advance.

Then we had a slight change in plans...

 aka... a small house fire.

Thankfully everything and everyone is completely okay.  But there's nothing like a potential house fire to really shake you up.

Yesterday was incredibly windy in Louisville, and apparently a tree fell on the power lines a few houses down the street.  Well, from what we can understand, that tree sent a jolt of power through the lines and should have eventually been grounded... but instead the entire power surge went into our house, causing the fire.  Lance and I were at church, completely oblivious.  Thankfully my hero-of-a-next-door-neighbor saw and heard the fire right away and was able to put it out with her fire extinguisher.  I love you Kate!

The firemen rushed over and checked everything out... turned off our power... but couldn't figure out why the lines were still hot.  After hours of waiting and several visits from electricians and the power company, we finally figured out where the surge was coming from.  Thanks to our awesome landlord and a great electrician, it wasn't long before our power was back on.  The damage was minimal... a few blown light bulbs, the fan in our room is fried, and our microwave is toast... oh, and our internet router was blown.  So, despite working from Panera Bread today and not being able to eat popcorn... we are in pretty good shape... and so, so thankful.

Because honestly, all I keep thinking about are the what if's...  What if my neighbor hadn't been home?  what if that part of the house wasn't a newer addition? (there was concrete in that spot, instead of wood, like the rest of the house) What if my friend wasn't living with us at the time? (she was the one that got the message to us so we knew to come home)  What if the power surge happened at night?  What if this?  And what if that?  So, so thankful for God's protection and mercy over our home.

Sometimes a change of plan isn't such a bad thing.
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 For the month of October I'm doing a 31-day series on "change."  Go here to see the full line-up of "change" posts.