Matters of Deja Vu

 Blog: Matters of Deja Vu 06.05.24

The other day I was listening to the FOLLOW HIM podcast by Hank Smith and John Bytheway, when I heard a familiar story. John Bytheway was telling of a family fire that sounded much like an almost-disaster that happened to us in December 1982:

It was Christmas time, and Jim and I had been out doing our last-minute shopping. As we headed home, sirens filled the air and shrieked more loudly as we got closer to home. Smoke. Fire engines lined our street, and as we pulled up, our young children crawled out the front door under the smoke. We were assured that all was well as the firefighters checked and made sure that the fire was out.

All the children had been downstairs watching a movie when the two oldest decided to cook some more french fries. Steven and Derek were about twelve and ten. When they finished frying, they thought they had switched the stove “off,” but they had accidentally put it on “high.” The pot of oil had exploded, setting the kitchen on fire. The noise had the boys running upstairs. Steven had some scout training, and he quickly covered the pot with a lid and grabbed the hose from outside, extinguishing flames while Derek ran to the neighbors to call 911. They got the three younger children and had them keep low through the noxious fumes. Why was the hose out, connected, and ready to use in the end of December? A little miracle that the day was warm enough to wash the car, and the water was available and ready. Another miracle—that the boys knew what to do and acted so swiftly. By the time the fire department arrived a couple of minutes later, all they had to do was check for hot spots and put a big fan to blow the smoke out.

In the Bytheway story, his point was the kindness and compassion extended to his family. Our story is the same. People anonymously left envelopes of money, new shoes and clothes for all of us, food and other necessities. Our ward was a blessing for us in a difficult time. It turned out to be our most-memorable and most-joyous Christmas story ever! The covenant includes bearing each others’ burdens.