You brought your fire?

Tonight I was cooking and my potholder caught on fire. Not only did I have a de ja vu moment from college, all of a sudden I felt like I was back in my college days as well because my downstairs neighbor had just been inside my place using her computer. I told her I would be right down in a minute to borrow her vacuum (we like to live communally)

Well, since we share so much and we had been together 30 seconds before, when my potholder caught on fire, my instinct was to take the potholder to my friends place. Why I don't know, because it really looked bad; it had just caught on fire. I knew I probably should take it outside or put it in water in MY apartment, but no, why not knock on her door. It seemed innocent enough but then it started smoking more and when she came to the door she looked at me funny and said, "You brought your fire here??"

I took it outside and we put the rest of the fire out. It turned out okay, of course. And we laughed a lot after that, of course.

Rule #1 of the apartments is now: don't go mobile with your fires. 

Seriously, fire safety is IMPORTANT.

Still, this song came to mind, and in favor of being super sentimental about fire even though the whole thing was actually quite ridiculous, I think you all might enjoy it. This is actually a song I like a lot by a singer I like a lot more.





Are there people you have sat with in the burn? I sit with many who are in this space daily, even though a lot of the time I don't think of it this way. I remember the first time I heard this song was a few years ago, and it put to words what was happening around me. It felt like a truth-telling message. 

This was a time when I was working with kiddos who were being abused/neglected in foster care and it was one of my first experiences with that within my job. Needless to say, my heart was breaking for them. I was feeling the angst of desperation of no answers coming after many trials they had endured in the system and not being able to find permanency. As their counselor, I tried to stay objective, but also as a follow of Jesus, I kept seeing the brokenness of it all and was hoping there would be deliverance and change.

Do you ever want to but find it difficult to 'come close' like this? What was my place in all that? It was several years ago, but sometimes I am reminded of this feeling. There is only so much we can each can do, and yet, there are times we are called to brave the heat. It is a gentle reminder.