Thursday, June 07, 2007

We are all Alive and Well, praise God the Giver of All!

God gets all the glory for saving Jackson, Charlie, me and Millie Boo's life. I am still too emotional right now to write about the fire so I cut and pasted what Charlie wrote on http://sbcwitness.com/. Write now I am in the process of moving all our clothes out of the house with the dry cleaner man, and we are out of our house for at least 3 months. My parents have Jackson, and I have not since him since Tuesday---I miss him so much I can hardly stand it. My wonderful patient sister has my dog. Everyone is calling so it would be wonderful if you could just leave a message here on the blog until things settle down with the insurance company. Thanks so much! Please pray that we will have time to be in God's Word. If one person comes to know Jesus as their Lord and Savior through this, then it is so worth it. Ultimately, God is in control of everything, and let this fire happen for his glory and our good...

I do not believe that Satan's demons are always after you (we live in a fallen world), but when we are preaching Christ all week this week at VBS to children that have never heard the Gospel, you have to wonder...

I have pictures but I just do not know if I will ever be able to post them. Jackson room is going to have to be gutted and that is hard when I worked all last summer on it, and lots of things were gifts...

Here is Charlie's post:

Hell, Fire, and Brimstone

Tuesday morning, at about 5:45 am, I awoke to the sound of loud beeping that was coming from our smoke alarm. As I opened my eyes, I saw smoke slowly rolling into our bedroom. Half-asleep, I immediately shot up and ran just a few feet away into our 9-month old son's bedroom, where the fire was burning. I was shocked to see a fire about the size of what you would see burning in a fireplace. Fortunately, I remembered that my son was in our bed because he woke up a few hours earlier.

My wife quickly called 911 and I ushered our sleeping baby boy out of our room (which is located adjacent to his room) and into his mother's arms. I then grabbed the fire extinguisher, cut the safety cord, and ran back into the baby's room. In the 1 minute it took from the first time that I saw the fire, as well as the last, the flames were now reaching the ceiling.

As one is spraying the contents of a fire extinguisher into a room that is engulfed by flames, he doesn't anticipate the volume of smoke that is inhaled and blocking his sight. You often hear of the effects of fire, but not of smoke. I sprayed as much as I could in about 5 seconds before I couldn't breathe or see. I could literally feel smoke burning the inside of my nostrils.

I ran out of the house and approx. 2 minutes later the fire department came to the rescue. After breaking the front door down, they then shot about 90 gallons of water into our baby's room and ended the threat.

Upon walking back into the house, my wife and I saw how soot covered the entirety of our home. As we entered into the baby's room it was evident that had our son not been in our bed he would have suffered at least from smoke inhalation.

In God's divine mercy and providence, our baby boy Jackson, woke up at 3:30 am and we laid him in the bed with us. 99% of the time I usually wait for him to fall asleep and then gently place him back in his crib.

However, that night, as I waited for him to fall asleep I had a strange peaceful feeling and decided that I wanted my son to sleep with his parents that night.

All I can say is that $40,000 in structural damage as well as thousands of dollars in property damage/repair/cleaning later, the entire family is safe. The baby has been checked by a doctor and is fine.

However, the real eye-opening part of the entire experience is that I got a slight taste of Hell Tuesday morning.

Fire is hot. Smoke is hot. And the damage they can do together is breathtaking.

Our church has baptized 7 adults over 18 years of age in the past 2 months. We are in the middle of VBS this week and Jesus is being preached. Over the past few weeks we've noticed how little attacks have been going on in the church that haven't before.

I am confident that Satan's demons are attacking our church. A fire during VBS - which happens to be the most important week of the year for my job description?

Make no mistake about it, brothers, if you preach Christ unapologetically Satan and his demons will attack you in some way, shape, or form. It may be disasters, it may be through gossip, it may be through unruly selfish church members. Whatever it is, the Devil has no dealings with a lukewarm church. If you are preaching Christ, hold on.

I had a taste of Hell on Tuesday morning. Hell is real. It is a place of pain. It is a place of suffering. It is a place of weeping and gnashing of teeth. And a lot of people are going to spend eternity there and God has called every believer to do what he can to preach Christ.

Hell is real. People are going. Preach Christ and hold on.


7 comments:

Leah F said...

Emily-
I am glad I checked your blog; I was just about to call your cell phone and let you know that I am praying for you. However, I know it must be crazy busy and emotional for you, so know that Nathan and I are thinking of y'all and praying for you. I was horrified to hear about the fire when Nathan told me on Tuesday, but I rejoice with you that the Lord provided safety for the entire Wallace family. Please let us know how we can continue to pray and support you. May God be glorified through this time, as you have the chance to openly rely on His provision. Lots of love and prayers!

Anonymous said...

Emily,
This is Amanda Ridley -- now Ledbetter. I've been visiting your blog for several months now and have enjoyed reading all about your family. I can't even remember how I stumbled across it, but almost weekly I've been drawn back to see how things are going. At first, I thought it was reading about Jackson and seeing so many cute pictures. After 9 months of marriage, I've already felt the Lord telling me to prepare myself for children (we aren't planning to have one in the near future, but who knows what He has in store). I think it was last week, though, during a typical dinner with Jay when I realized truly why I have enjoyed your blog, and that reason can be summed up in your words today. You're love for Jesus and your commitment and assurance of His promises is not only contagious and inspiring, it's also addicting. There have been several times since I began visiting this site when I have heard the Lord through you. After my quiet times, I sometimes come to the computer and I'm again drawn to this blog. And while your stories about being a wife and mother are sweet to read, it's your words about Jesus that are even sweeter. I can't imagine the feelings you are going through after this recent tragedy, but know this, through this experience -- like countless others in your life thus far -- you are doing God's work and are spreading his love to so many who like me have stumbled to this site. This event is already being used for good. I would love to help you in any way we can. We are praying for your family. Please let me know if there is anything else I can do for you. God bless you -- and thank you.
Amanda

Shannon Bradley said...

Emily, you do not know me, but I found your blog through Leah Finn. I check your blog everyday and love seeing how Jackson grows, as I have a son his age named Luke. I felt as if I knew you, when I saw the news about the fire. Please know that we will be praying for your family tonight and praising God that His protective hand was upon each of you.
Love, Shannon Bradley

C.L. said...

oh Emily, God's providence is great. Thank the Lord that Jackson was with you guys and took care of you all. He is definitely with you and we will pray for you all tonight. I imagine it is an extremely stressful and difficult time for you right now and we are lifting you to our Father. Love, Caitlin

Sammy Rhodes said...

Praise the Lord that Jackson woke up! I have chills thinking about what would have happened if he did not. I am so glad that yall were able to get out safely and everyone is alright. We will definitely keep yall in our prayers while you get through this difficult time. We will be in Sumter the weekend of the 16th so if there is anything we can do for yall please, please let us know. Does jackson have clothes, etc? Again, let us know what we can do to help yall. We love yall and are glad that everyone is okay!---Alyssa

Emily Wallace said...

Thank yall so much. I cannot tell you what a blessing and an encouragement everyone’s words have been. Really what we are going through is nothing compared to what some others are facing. Thank you again, your comments have meant more than you will ever know.

Anonymous said...

Emily,
This is Britt and Alice. We both wanted to let you and Charlie know how much we have been thinking about you. We were shocked when we heard the news and were very relieved to hear everyone was okay. As new parents, we can only imagine your terror! We have been praying for all of you and are always glad to hear about your blessings arising from this tragedy. Your blog is amazing and has been an inspiration to us both. We are thankful God has greatly blessed you all. Please know you will continue to be in our prayers, and we are here for you always. We will talk when things slow down. I know they must be crazy right now. Take care.