I Was Thinking of You ALL on October 11th!
The October Fire Event Baptism by Fire!
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hold me and hug me and touch me and sympathize with me, to take me away, to sit me down. Oddly enough, some of the women campers, there with their husbands, played the hysterical women, instead. During the height of the gas tank explosion, a few of them were screaming and crying. And the rescuers wanted to give me oxygen and bandage my hands and haul me away. The last thing I wanted was to spend the night in a hospital! I only had burned hands. They would have wanted to give me drugs and intravenous. What could be worse? When they tried to put the oxygen mask on me, I declared: "The only way I'm going to take that stuff is if it is full of laughing gas!" When the rescuers tried, one on each side, to drag me into the ambulance, I did put my foot down! "Can you force me to go to the hospital?" The answer was, "No." So I signed their papers, refusing.
And so, I began quoting Scripture and singing from the Time/Life Praise & Worship Library. I was praising The Lord and thanking Him for my life! Some of the campers stood by me and sang to me their favorites. I even inspired 1 of the firemen. He looked over to the awesome sight of The Wilderness Wagon on fire, right next to a lone, tall evergreen set aflame like a giant candle that then reached up to touch the near-full moon. "He looked to the crowd and remarked, "Well, it's a nice night for a fire!" By then, the group was in such a jovial mood, they chuckled sympathetically. Then the fireman leaned over to me and quietly commented, "I've always wanted to say that at the scene of a fire, my whole career. But never could. I figured, with you, I could."
Still, in the middle of all this joy, I was upset about my saddle. There were no heroes to unhook the horse trailer. There had been at least 15 minutes during which the trailer could have been unhooked. The fire department took forever being The Wilderness and all. And when they did get there, since there was nothing they could do, they pretty much just let it burn. The only way I could have saved the saddle was to throw a fit, as they were not listening to my importuning. And I decided against becoming "The Ugly American." The horse trailer got scorched in that "standing around" time and the saddle cooked.
One unusual incident of "The Fire Event" was the young life guard who stood in the background during the full 3 hours. He was new this year. We had only exchanged a few words, my being in silence. But he had been reading the gift copy of The YearBook for the life guards, and he had heard about my legendary year up there. Johnathan stood away from most everyone and never took his eyes off me the whole 3 hours. Every time I looked over, he was there for
support. I felt like he was, perhaps, waiting for me to fall apart and that he would be there for me if I did. He would bring me water. Give me a hug. Offer a smile. And when it was over, he took me home and helped me make a fire and make up a bed. Then he stayed with me for an hour while I finally cried, and we shared other "Brushes with Death." Three days later, he left for a trip to The Orient. I may never see him again. He was the closest thing to an angel-in-person I have ever encountered.
Another strange thing about "The Fire Event" was that I never once thought about using the fire extinguisher. It was close at hand. But it never came into my mind. I'm not sure why I never thought about using it. Never in my life have I pulled the tab and shot a real fire extinguisher. I have always been a little leary of them, I don't know why. Some tell me that it all happened so fast, I did not think to use it. And my hands were so badly burned. If actually using a fire extinguisher had been part of my training in school, I'm sure I would have thought to use it. Or maybe it did all happened too fast.
The following day, I met with the insurance agent. Peter, the R.V. Camp Manager, informed me that campers had been frequenting the site all morning and joked with me: "It was the showcase of the morning!" Many campers and pool guests wanted to continue with the sympathy and hugging. So I asked The Lord to use me further. This led to many hours, over the next 3 days, of sharing "Brushes with Death" stories with these friends. It is amazing how many people want to talk about The Lord. In church, mainly the people listen. But in an open air church setting, such as The Wilderness Wagon afforded during its extinguishment or The Victory Wagon will afford once on the road, the people want and I dare say "need" to be listened to. I can see where being out in The Victory Wagon and spending some time just listening to and recording amazing stories of faith and courage others have lived through will serve as rich seeds for the encouragement of others.
"The Fire Event" is over. I am a better person because of it. Whatever monies I had tied up in The Wilderness Wagon are now given to The Great American Health Revolution. I wanted to share with you ALL this "Life Affirming Event." If you would like to share one with me, please do. Now, we move on. Each moment we choose to live an Energy Enhancer, we are choosing "Life" over death. Each moment, we are asked to choose... "Life or Death?" Rather than choose Energy Robbers that bring Enervation, Toxemia, disease, suffering, and death, it is up to us to choose Healthy Living Habits. StayWell.
