It has been nearly three weeks since the tragedy of the fires in the Los Angeles area, but it seems so much longer ago.  My daughter lived in Altadena, CA up until January 7th.  She loved the kind, friendly neighbors and the quiet, pretty area north of her apartment where she enjoyed taking walks through the peaceful streets with the beautiful views of mountains in the background.  I visited her there a few years ago and I was relieved to see how safe it seemed.

The picture above shows my daughter’s apartment in Altadena during my visit.  Her apartment with everything in it is now gone, along with all of the cute homes in the neighborhoods closer to the mountains where she loved to walk.  She told me that she “had felt spooked” by the quickly spreading Palisades fire on Tuesday, January 7th and began to prepare some things just in case more wildfires started closer to her.  She gathered her important papers, took photos of everything in her apartment and grabbed a few other things and filled the trunk of her car.  That evening, just before going to bed, I checked the LA news and saw that a fire had indeed started a little east of her.  It still looked a bit far from her, but it was very windy.  Two minutes later, I got the call that she was evacuating.  As she was evacuating, she could see the approaching flames from her balcony.  The next day her landlord gave her the news that her building had burned to the ground.

We live in a natural world and are very affected by natural events.  Even so, God can give us a higher perspective on what happens around us.  Yes, she lost everything, except the things in the trunk of her car, and yet the fingerprints of God are evident everywhere.  She said she “felt spooked.”  In reality, God’s Spirit was leading her to get ready.  She had a friend who offered her a temporary place to stay that night and for the following days.  It was God who prepared a place for her.  Now other acquaintances just happen to be moving to northern California for two years and have offered to sublet their apartment to her until she can get back on her feet.  I tell my husband,  if God can find an apartment that quickly for her in a city where there is extremely low inventory even before the fire that wiped out so many homes and buildings, well then, He can do just about anything He wants, can’t He?!

Many people are saying these fires are apocalyptical or biblical.  Yes, indeed, but we have brought these problems on ourselves.  In this case, God did not rain down fire from heaven.  We caused it. We brought it on ourselves.  Sins, corruption, lying, stealing, selfishness.   He just couldn’t hold it back any longer.  If He held it back, too many people would be lost forever.  He does not want that.  People have to change, not just in Los Angeles or in the location of some other disaster, but everywhere.  I know that it has changed my daughter in profound ways, mostly in ways on knowing to appreciate the important things in life, relationships with people.

Trust in God.  Keep His commandments.  Love Him with all your heart.  He is a loving Father.  He loves His children with all of His and just wants them to be close to Him.  He is holy, so in order to be close to Him, we have to make ourselves holy.  We can do it.  Jesus left us the way.  We just need to read up on Jesus and try to implement His words.

Yes, indeed, there is ONE who has our back and who only allows something that will somehow bring us closer to Him if we allow it to work on our lives. Yes, my daughter lost everything last Wednesday when her building burned to the ground.  A profound loss, mostly because she loved the cute, kind and friendly community and neighbors there. However, God did have her back. He inspired her to photograph everything, to prepare, and to begin packing important papers and a few other essentials in her car trunk. She took a few valuables but never imagined that her building would actually burn down. Since then, God has been so kind.  God CAN do miracles. We have all seen it in so many ways, both big and small.  It is such a blessing to know and love Him. Prayer and a continued close relationship with our dear Father make all the difference.

My daughter stayed with a friend for several days after the fire and has now come home for a few weeks.  The aftermath of living through such a huge disaster is proving to be difficult.  It takes time to process loss in our lives.  She didn’t just lose her apartment and everything in it.  Her whole community is almost entirely gone.  All of the people who died in Altadena lived in the area on the other side of her street.  They did not get their evacuation orders until much later during the night and some, especially the elderly and disabled, could not get out.  I thank God that she got out when she did, and I know that God is good and kind and loving.  Mankind really messes up a lot though.  This is just one tragedy among many taking place throughout our world.  Let’s continue our prayers for those hurting around our world for so many reasons.  Stay strong and pray.