prayers

I'm very thankful for everything involved with my birthday (I'll do a post on that later).  But sometimes something happens that puts life into perspective and it makes you thankful for a lot.


i've mentioned jess on here several times before.  She's been my best friend since 6th grade (we both have an array of embarrassing stories about each other).  Of my friends she knows me the best (besides Karen).  We've been through a lot together.

some school lock-in in middle school

trick-or-treat for canned goods junior year
i won scariest costume.  yes, really.
it may have been from sympathy.
that's flour on my face.  it rained.  think about it.  it becomes like plaster.
on my face.

senior year 

senior year

graduation

after high school, I headed to Chicago and she stayed in Missouri for college.  We stuck together through it all.  

She was always willing to let me take pictures... =)
(thanks jess)

She married Jarrit in August 2009.

Since then they've been building their lives together.  Including building a beautiful home.

They broke ground over a year ago & they worked so hard finishing it, doing as much as they could themselves.  Which was A LOT!  Jarrit is very handy.

Jess came to Greta's baby shower after a morning spraying the insulation in their home.

Every time I talked to her, at some point in the conversation, I always asked, "How's the house coming?" or "What are the house updates?"

I spoke with her Monday, January 16th & we excitedly discussed the finishing touches, the last thing was supposed to happen this week.  (They lived in the house while they worked on it.)  We were SO excited for their home.

Thursday, January 19th she called & left me a voicemail for my birthday.  I didn't listen to the message until Friday.  (I'm bad with voicemail.)  I immediately felt something was off in her voice.

We know each other a bit too well for our own good.  When I'm really upset about something I can't seem to shake and I'm not ready to admit it yet, I typically try to avoid her calls because I know she'll see right through it.

Karen said she thought something happened, but didn't really understand what.  Then Dad called me (news travels fast in a small town, especially bad news) that Jess & Jarrit's house had a fire.

He mentioned someone set-up an account at US Bank in Ste. Genevieve, but I still didn't really know what happened.

So I kept calling her.

Maybe it was a bit annoying and pushy, but I love her and I was worried.  So I kept calling.

When we did talk and I asked what I can do she of course said everyone is being extremely generous and helping them get clothes, soap, etc.  They didn't just have a house fire.  Their house burnt to the ground.

She asked me to pray for them.  

I will pray for them of course, but I want to do something more.

I really want to sit with her for hours give her lots of hugs and just talk and talk.  That's hard to do when you're hundreds of miles away.

This is when I contacted Dad about this fund set-up to get the details.  And I'm going to get together the best gift package I've ever thought up.  (At least I hope so.)

I asked Mom what the most helpful thing someone did for her after our house fire (I was in 7th grade... it's all a blur at this point).  

*She said my Aunt Marcia & Grandma did our laundry, since we were at a hotel for awhile. (I remember living in that hotel for weeks-Jeff, Karen, & I shared a room-Jeff turned on Walker Texas Ranger and the first scene was an arsonist setting fire to people's houses.  I started crying immediately.  Let's just say Jeff didn't watch that episode of Walker Texas Ranger.)  

*She said someone finding us a house we could rent so we could have a place that was ours in the process.  

*Routine.  She looked for routine so she could go on.  She said everyday she would go back to our half burnt down house (full of smoke damage) and open and close the curtains because that was her routine.

So that'll put things into perspective.

I ask you to pray for them as well as they figure out what their next steps are going to be.