Let me just say...

Today's inspirational quote just stared at me this morning.

Really?  

Sometimes I think, "If just one more thing hits us…," and then I remember that we'll get through it just like we've done so many times before.  

**I do not always remember this truth in the midst of the ordeal.  Just being honest, Folks.**

I feel like our marriage as been tested from the very beginning.  Over and over, our resolve and love and determination are put through the ringer.  

And each time?

We come out stronger.  

More devoted.  

Loving more fully.

Anywho.

The latest thing?

Friday morning, the Sunday of The Husband's weekend, I woke bright and early to my alarm at 7am.  I got Ella up and fed, got Jack up and fed, got Ella down for a nap, and got Jack squared away in his room for "room time."  The Husband and I sat on the couch, me with a book, him with his phone, and we sat in comfortable silence as our children were occupied elsewhere.  The quiet was pleasant.  

I caught a whiff of something odd and said, "Hey, why does it smell like smoke?"  The Husband sniffed and said, "Because it is smoke!"  He jumped up, ran to Jack's room, threw open the door.  Nothing.  Well, nothing other than our sweet boy playing happily.  He then opened our bedroom door, the room in which Ella sleeps, as well, and he said, "Get her out!"  Smoke filled the room.  And, Ella continued to sleep peacefully through it.  That knowledge alone nearly stopped my heart.  

I grabbed her, he grabbed Jack, and we went out on the porch.   In the below freezing weather.  I had grabbed a robe and my phone on the way out, so I huddled the kids up close to me as we sat on the bench.  The Husband went back inside to see where the smoke was coming from because we hadn't seen any fire.  He shouted for me to call for help.  

For the first time in my life, I called 911.

It felt odd asking for help for smoke but no fire (that we could see).  

Five minutes later, two firetrucks arrived, and a police car pulled up.  All of the guys nodded and smiled at us as they went inside to assess the situation.

Fifteen minutes later, they determined that the smoke had come from the ac/heater unit in Jack's closet.  For some reason, it had pushed all of the smoke into Ella's room.  The wiring was inappropriately low-guage for our unit, and the wires were melting together and would have likely caused a fire had we not caught it in time.  The unit was shut down and things were disconnected.  

I hurriedly packed enough stuff for the day for the kids and drove the three of us over to my parents' house while The Husband tried to figure out what to do next.   

I sent this text to The Bestie.

Our first-year home warranty company was called.  A repairman was sent out.  He refused to fix it, and assured us that the warranty company wouldn't cover the repairs.  Lots of hours passed.  After a lot of unnecessary business with the repair company, the warranty company called and said they wouldn't cover the repairs.  Why on earth do we have this warranty if they aren't going to cover things like this??!

The Husband's parents offered to come down and try to fix the problem (rewire with bigger-guage wires) for now until we can afford to do something different.  They arrived Friday evening.  That night, the four of us slept at my parents' house, and The Husband's parents stayed here.  They had fixed the issue, and the heater was working again.  

What has frustrated me so much is the fact that, yet again, our inspector failed to see a problem.  Our house is collapsing, our kitchen floor is rotting out, and now our house nearly catches on fire because of a wiring issue that should have been caught.  

Our insurance company has agreed to cover some of the cost of releveling our home (but we don't know if they'll cover replacing the flooring), so as soon as this darn rain will stop and we can get a releveling company out here to assess the problems and give us quotes on everything, we can get the ball rolling.  That's is a huge prayer answered.  Now, it's just a waiting game.  I hate waiting.  

But.

I sent this text to my sister.  It sums up my gratitude.  

I'm so incredibly grateful that this little family of ours was protected.  So many different scenarios have rushed through my mind, but I won't allow them to take root.  We were spared.  We were unharmed.  Our home did not burn down, our things were not lost.  We had a home to go to while waiting.  We had family come help fix the problem.  We are safe.  

This new year certainly has started out with a bang, but we will continue to trust and serve the One who continues to take care of us.  

From our family to yours, 

blessings in this new year of ours.  

May the hiccups of life not sway our trust and hope in the Lord, but instead, may they turn our eyes to Him in such a way that we see His hand at work even in the darkest of times.