God's Mercies.

I was in a rush yesterday. In fact I'm in a rush every Tuesday because we do "School on the road."

Every Tuesday morning, early - around 7:15 in the morning, food is being pulled from the freezer and stuffed into an insulated food bag. Sometimes I am doing the pulling, other times, Angelo. So was the case yesterday. One was gathering food while the other was gathering books, violins, music assignments, coats, hats, gloves so we could be on the road by 8:00.

In our rush, we didn't notice that the freezer door was left ajar about an inch. So, all day long the poor motor worked hard trying to keep our freezer cool.

Late last night the kids and I returned, tired and more than ready for bed. One of them discovered the gaping freezer door. I quickly shifted food around and closed the door. We quickly made PB&J sandwiches for a quick snack before sending the kids off for showers and worship.

It was about an hour later I noticed that the microwave wasn't on. I checked the circuit breaker box and found a circuit flipped. I put it back on and went to bed.

This morning I noticed the water in my ice cube trays hadn't refrozen so I immediately called the rental office and then called the kids. We quickly started pulling food out of the fridge and freezer in preparation for the maintenance guy to come. As we emptied the freezer, I made a horrifying discovery; the back of the freezer was melted! I mean the plastic molding around the motor was not in the same shape it was before, it had melted much like a fire would melt any kind of appliance plastic. There had been a fire in my freezer! Once everything but a package of (we thought) wheat crackers in a zipper bag stuck to the back was out, I could further see evidence of fire - an ominous black trail going up the back of the freezer.

Once the maintenance guy came and pulled the stuck zipper bag out, I was further surprised. What we thought were wheat crackers were badly burnt taco shells.

What a day! Within the hour, however, the old refrigerator was gone and a replacement was settling in.

I took some time to collect myself away from the chaos. I had thrown the taco shells away, but suddenly a thought came to me. I can only say it came from God. "You have children's story at church this Sabbath. This is your children's story."

I jumped up from my bed, ran downstairs to retrieve the taco shells with it's melted plastic. I then grabbed a camera and got pictures of the inside of the freezer so they can be used as a reminder of God's mercy.

Then, I gathered the children around and explained to them the extent of what COULD HAVE happened. I had them look in the freezer and told how God protects us, our house and the dwellings of our neighbors every day. I didn't want hustle and bustle of this crisis to dwarf the significance of this miracle.