Fire Trucks?! Again!?

Sirens are not uncommon here. But since the neighbor's fire on January 15th, we hear them much differently. Our hearts start pounding a bit faster and our adreneline kicks up a bit. And for Abby, well, she usually gets pretty scared.

Tonight, as Abby and I lay in bed, we heard the familiar sound again. It got closer and I hoped it would just pass on by without much hightened screaming as it did. Instead, the sound stopped altogether...right in front of our house! "Not again!"

Turns out, a neighbor was strolling by HDC (the ministry that I work at across the street) when he heard fire alarms going off in our back building. It was just a dirty detector.

In the end, Abby was very curious and, by the grace of God, not scared. We see God using this in helping Abby get over her fear and the incident of last month. For this time, the fire trucks outside our house, was not a scary event.

Thank you, Lord!

It's Chick-fil-a Tonight!

We are feeling quite exhausted these days. For this reason, we look to seize the little oasis that come our way. Tonight, family night at Chick-fil-a! Kids eat free, the play place is great, it's very clean, we love that chicken, and the servers always say, "My pleasure!"

A huge step forward, it seems

So, we are currently sorting through the many boxes and bundels of clothes, sheets, towels, shoes, toys, blankets, etc. that just came back form the cleaners, all smoke free!

The challenge, besides finding places to put things, will be maneuvering around the construction guys who should be starting next week with tearing out certain walls and ceilings, and rebuilding and repainting things.

The other challenge will be for katie as she attempts to school and livel ife with the kids while the contruction is going on.

But we are happy to have people we know now working on our home, people we can trust. that is huge!

The Christmas Tree is Down (and a House Update)

Well, we're getting the house back in some sense of order today for the first time since January 15! The tree is finally down and all Christmas stuff packed and reordered in the basement. Yeah!

After a hiatus from restoration work on the house, a new adjuster from the insurance company is coming out tomorrow, Friday morning. We have been less than impressed with the work of the restoration company, feeling that more work is being done than is necessary and more being charged than is prudent and decent.

So, before we consent to all our ceilings being torn out, we advised the insurance company that they get a second opinion.

Our clothing and textiles are all being delivered on Monday morning. Because of all the work needing to be done yet on the house, we will probably be storing these across the street at Chris' work. The staff there have graciously offered one of their empty rooms since our training is in the off season right now.

We also fixed our back fence today. I still had a hole from where the firemen broke through to get to the back of our neighbor's house. Several things have already been stolen from their house in the aftermath. There is little to no empathy here in the city. One person's trouble is many others' opportunity it seems.

Pray for our neighbor, Maria. I think she really wants to rebuild and reclaim, but they had no insurance on the house. I have always wanted to be active in organizing a work team to help someone with home needs, so maybe this is that opportunity.

I'll Save Abby

As Abby lie crying last night becasue of her fear of the fire and the wasps and shadows on her wall, Gabe spoke up and said, "I'll save Abby, Daddy. I'll save Abby from the monsters." The little guy has such a sense of protecting his little big sister already. It was really precious.

Pray for the Hair?

Last night I was putting the toddlers to bed and praying for them. Abby piped up and reminded me to pray for the hair...the hair! "Pray for the hair?" I asked with deep inquisition. And then it came to me that, with all the uncertainty that still remains for them in the aftermath of the fire, it was appropriate to thank God for numberign all the hairs on our head, and that He loves and cares for and knows us inside and out, and taht he would take care of them (especially Abby) in the midst of her fears.

Hold that Thought

Okay, we're headin' for Kansas on Sunday, so everything with the house is onhold until we return. When we get back, the inusrance company is sending out their own adjuster for a second opinion on the house and to answer some of the concerns that we have regarding how things are being (or not being) handled.

Demolition

Well, today we got the word that the company does in deed want to tear out more of our house than just Lydia's wall, floor and ceiling. Word on the street (although we haven't been able to nail any one down on this exactly) is that we will have to pack out our entire house while they tear it up!

Now, if you ask me, that's a bit extreme. I believe this so much that I have asked our insurance agent to get a second opinion, just to be sure that they aren't being milked for job security from this sub-contract group.

In short, the insurance company is sending out another adjuster, but with our trip to the Midwest next week, combined with a weekend closing in on us very rapidly, things will have to be on hold until mid-month.

So, much like the light in Lydia's room, we are still hangin'.

Our First Party

Call us crazy, but we hosted a tail gate party yesterday afternoon at our house in just our first full day back in. One of the volunteer staff said that it felt good to be back over here. It felt good to reclaim the space and resume hosting others.

After a spread of bratwurst, smokie sausages and baked beans--and a couple hours of small talk and football stories that only some of us were interested in--we headed to a co-worker's home for the Super Bowl. (Thanks Andy and Cheryl!)

An Update on the Epp Home

It's been almost three weeks since the fire next door. Clean up is steady now, even if it feels slow. Clean up crews are now beginning to clean out Lydia's room to prepare it for more extensive exploration into the smoke and possible fire damage in our building. Her room continues to be "quarentined" as we await crews' further diagnosis fo the situation.

In the mean time, we continue with the cleaning of dishes that were out during the ordeal, as well as putting together a rather dishevled living space.