Shifting Winds

So sorry... I wrote this last week. But internet here hasn't been good enough to upload photos (or at least when I'm on) until now.

It's amazing how once you commit to something (like living more in the present, enjoying and treasuring the present), you typically experience an immediate challenge.

Mine came fiercely. In the form of a fire.

During dry season here, it is a common practice to burn. It's an easy way to prepare fields...no slashing or digging required. But, as you can imagine, it's also dangerous. The world turns to kindling.

And so, when a "controlled" fire on neighboring land grew out of control, and the winds grew more forceful,  Enterprise Farm lit up. There is really very little you can do when the winds are driving a fire. And it's quite scary when the fire (and winds) are headed straight for your home.

As the flames approached, our eyes began to burn from all the smoke. Ash floated through our windows.

And then the fire was in my back yard. The flames caught the greenhouse.

My pineapples were next.

you can tell how quickly the fire was moving by all the brush that managed to withstand the flames

Our banda's grass roof needed only a single ember swirling in the wind to...

The children and I gathered together to pray. And then the winds shifted. More quickly than the fire had come, it left. And when a fire turns on itself, it doesn't last long. The farm employees beat out the remaining flames with their branches. Shawn doused stubborn spots with jerry cans of water.

Throughout the night, flames would resurrect briefly, easy to spot in the dark. We are thankful the night air was still. The following day we continued to cough from all the smoke from smoldering logs, and ash snowed lightly from the sky.

But it was over.

The back of the greenhouse is gone, several citrus and mango trees are damaged, but it could have been so much worse.


We are thankful for the shifting winds.