*Welcome October! I look forward to your beautiful colors, cooler temperatures, and falling leaves.
*At church this morning one of our church members shared a story about her daughter who lived down in Meridian who chose not to go outside to get her garbage cans from the road. Later she found out there had been a prowler in the neighborhood, and the intruder entered one of the neighboring homes and started a fire. As Janice was telling this story, something about it was familiar.
*In the afternoon I received an email from Paul’s mom, who also lives in Meridian. She shared the story of a couple that go to their church who have been members for about 8 years. As Paul Harvey used to say...here is the rest of the story.
‘I am not sure any of you know what we have experienced as a church this past week. You probably don't know Scott and Lily McAlister, they have been Legacy members for about 8 years, both in their 50s. Scott has struggled for several years with Hepatitis, and it seemed like they finally got him over that and this year he developed a malignant tumor on his liver with not a very good prognosis, but a lot of prayer. They lived near the corner of Amity and Linder Rd. on a few acres. Last Thursday, they heard an intruder in their house, Lily called 911, the sheriff showed up, saw a man coming out of their door with a rifle or shotgun, he threatened them, they shot at him and he returned into the house and apparently started a fire in the house, the fire department came and they were able to get Scott and Lily out of their bedroom window,. Scott was badly burned and was life flighted to Salt lake City, he passed away on Friday, his mother was staying at the house with them at the time and she did not make it out, so she and the intruder were both killed in the fire. Lily has lost her husband, her home, all her belongings, her car burned up, just nothing left. She has been staying with the Nary's. This evening we had a double memorial service for Scott and his mother, who was a member of a Baptist church in Nampa, so Ralph and that pastor shared the service.’
At the end of the email, she said, “Not a very nice thing to be sharing with you, but thought you might like to know. And we know that God is still God, and that He is good.”
*And that last line sums it up for me. God is still God, and He is good. He was good to Danielle for keeping her safe and not having her go get her garbage cans that night. He was also good amidst the horrible tragedy of her neighbors. He was good as my kind and loving friends Bill and Barb Nary opened up their hearts and their home to Lily to let her stay with them. He was good in the midst of horrible loss of lives. If you asked me right now “Carol, how do you know that God is still God, and that He is good”, I’m not sure I have an answer. I just know. That is faith. That is hope. The events were not good, they were evil. But God is good. I pray for Lily and her Legacy Church family. This used to be our church family. Paul and I pray for them every day. In situations like this, I don’t understand, but I do believe.
*After church, I went to Christy’s house, and Christy, Bill and I continued the process of dealing with our loss, and finishing up last minute details on Mom’s service and dealing with Mom’s estate. Then we went over to Bill and Debbie’s house and went through items upstairs so that area could be cleared out. Slowly but surely, the task of going through Mom’s things is happening.
*Arriving home, it was time to jump back into work. We got the basement totally finished, and the main floor is still a work in progress, but there is not much left to do to get it finished. I like how everything is coming together.
*Today I finished a book Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore. The author, Matthew Sullivan, is also a graduate of the University of Idaho. It was a pretty good read.
*It felt good to put my head on my pillow after a very good and productive weekend. So much was accomplished, and I hope it continues as we have a lot more to work on in this house!
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