My family has been in town for a few days now. My brother, Tom and my nephew, Tommy drove up from Alabama to see the new baby. My sister, Emily joined them. The 3 of us haven't been together since my fathers funeral in 2008 so its been quite nice to have my family around me again.
On Tuesday night, Tom and Alex were sitting in the living room watching a movie when my brother heard a popping/crackling noise in the foyer. He's a trained electrician and a volunteer firefighter, so naturally he got up to investigate. Recognizing the sound, he opened up the electrical socket and revealed the electrical shortage/fire that was just beginning. They immediately shut off the breaker.
If he hadn't been here, we would have never heard the popping noise. We would have been sound asleep on the other side of the house. If we would have been awake, we would have never heard the noise or would have dismissed it altogether as a part of the movie we would have been watching. The end result would have been the same..my entire family could have died from a dangerous electrical fire within the walls of the house that is supposed to protect us. My Uncle Alan died in 2007 from the exact same kind of fire. Not only did he catch the problem in time, but the next day he fixed the wiring for us and checked all the other boxes to make sure they were up to code.
Once again I am amazed at how God takes care of us. He protected us by placing Tom in our physical presence at the exact moment we needed him the most. There are not enough words to express my gratitude and love for my brother. Tom often drives me crazy but I sure am grateful that God chose to bless and protect us through him.
