Even today, 10 months after the fire, the town still looks like a war zone. Hundreds of trucks continue to haul debris from the area each day. Some residents are now waiting for the okay to go back, though the water is still not safe to drink. I have not even mentioned all the animals displaced.

This friend who called me the other day -- I was praying with her as she traveled down that burning hill with the fire on every side of her, so close it was scorching the paint off her car. I don’t know how long it took her to get to safety, but some drivers took four hours to get away. Others abandoned their cars and fled on foot.

Along with the tragic stories, we hear miraculous ones. Amazing interventions. My friend got down that hill to her son. Just months before, she lost her husband of 61 years, and now everything she owned was gone except for the clothes on her back and her very damaged car. In spite of this, she said to me, “Judy I have great peace and a living hope – my Jesus. This was only STUFF! I will not be taking it with me when I exit this life!”

Such a difference in those who know the Lord Jesus Christ as their personal Savior and Lord and those who do not. Believers have a living hope. They know they are just passing through this life and will soon be in another called Heaven! Sadly, non-believers have no living hope , only a worldly hope that is so often disappointing. Without a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, this very sad world and its systems are all they have.

So, the reason my friend called the other day was to tell me that the Lord had provided a house for her. She looks forward to moving into it, and added, “I am not going to clutter it up with a bunch of STUFF! I have been abundantly blessed, Judy.”