In a Puff Back...
“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life,
what you will eat or drink; or about your body,
what you will wear.
Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?
Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap
or store away in barns,
and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.
Are you not much more valuable than they?
Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?"
(Matthew 6:25 +)
My nose always knows. So when I walked into our cabin on Friday afternoon, I knew that the smell I was experiencing was unusual; I knew it was bad. As I made my way around the darkened rooms, I noticed a black soot covering every thing, and slowly as the shock began to register, I eased my hooded sweatshirt up to cover around my nose and mouth. I couldn't breathe. By the time my knight in shining armor, my furnace friend Kevin arrived, he could only verify what I had already begun to suspect, our furnace malfunctioned aka a Petroleum Puff-Back. What is a Petroleum Puff Back you ask? The ServePro website states, “A puff back happens when an oil burner doesn't ignite immediately and oil fumes are allowed to build up before ignition, resulting in an explosion similar to the backfiring of a car. It can also occur due to a buildup of debris, causing an excessive explosion when the furnace turns on. In either case, the explosion sends soot and debris through the furnace or boiler's exhaust system and into your home or business. The problem tends to be worse with forced hot air systems (opposed to a forced hot water system) as the heating ducts spread soot into every corner of your home, with the same efficiency that they spread heat…”
Next came a virtual parade of insurance adjusters, contractors and mitigation specialists who look at the contents of our home as a commodity. And while I am most grateful for their incredible expertise, they will examine each object and determine whether it can be saved or must be trashed. They will remove the damaged ceilings, floors and even the walls. If only these walls could talk! I know that it is just a building, but all of our family camps at this pond are like members of the family.
In the weeks and months ahead, as our Black Bear Bungalow is restored and perhaps even transformed, I will try to remember not to treasure things. Our memories and our love live on in the people God has given us to cherish.
“And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow.
They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon
in all his splendor was dressed like one of these.
If that is how God clothes the grass of the field,
which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire,
will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith?
So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’
or ‘What shall we wear?’
For the pagans run after all these things,
and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.
But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness,
and all these things will be given to you as well.
Therefore do not worry about tomorrow,
for tomorrow will worry about itself.
Each day has enough trouble of its own” (Matthew 6:25 +).
“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth,
where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.
But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven,
where moths and vermin do not destroy,
and where thieves do not break in and steal.
For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also”
(Matthew 6:19-21)
