Alarmed!!

Last night as I was doing some cooking in the kitchen, the smoke alarms went off in the house. Now, some of you who know me, wouldn't really be suprised by this and are laughing at me right now, but I wasn't burning anything.....this time! We had company visiting, and I looked at them and said "Wow, that shouldn't be happening, I'm not doing anything worthy of that!"

I decided to head down the hallway to fan the alarm, realizing that small children were sleeping and I needed to get them off (especially, since all the alarms in the house are connected and it was not only going off in the hallway, but in each of the bedrooms too!) As I walked down the hallway, I smelled smoke. I knew it was more than my cooking that set the alarms off. I ran into my bedroom, where my daughter was sitting on the bed crying and next to her was a burned kleenex from the candle burning in my bedroom. I made sure all the pieces were blown out and got the alarms off.

I discussed with my daughter the seriousness of her actions and reassured her that we were going to be ok, but wondered why she didn't come get me. She said "Mommy, I was afraid of getting in trouble." We discussed the trouble that could have transpired which is much more serious than my discipline.

As I sit back and ponder the events, I wonder how many times we've played with fire and nothing has gone up in smoke yet, but we're afraid to tell anyone for fear of what they might say. But, reality is, we need each other's accountability to encourage us in holiness. It is painful at the time, but the end result is a deeper walk with the Lord, a closer friendship, and a victorious life over sin.

We need each other. Make today's goal to encourage and love on someone intentionally today!