Restoration Press

I am writing this after 6 days of non-stop fires. It all started for my family Sunday after church service. We were returning to San Diego from Los Angeles. I could smell the smoke from the Witch Creek Fire as we approached the county line. The worst was in Del Mar. The smoke was nearly unbearable and stayed that way until we reached about Downtown. As we traveled south into our southern city of Imperial Beach the smoky air returned again. This smoke was from the Harris Fire and is just now beginning to clear.

After my experience during 2003 Cedar Fire I decided to go to LA for clean air (I do see the irony in that statement). (In 2003 the air was so bad in San Diego I traveled to Arizona to get away from it.) My family and I traveled through Del Mar again assuming LA would provide some comfort. However, on our way to Huntington Beach, enduring gust of wind greater than 80mph and dense smoke, we came closer to fire than we had in San Diego. In Irvine were I-5 and the I-405 meet the flame could be seen from the freeway.

My assumption that work would not require me to come in and schools would be closed that Monday was wrong (for the time being). So at 4AM the girls and I jumped in the car and traveled south once again. By 7AM, I was at my worksite; however I knew I would not be accomplishing anything of true value there. After clearing it with the boss, by 9AM I was Volunteering with the Red Cross at Santana High School. I would spend about 40 hours there in the next 4 days.

I was pretty much dead to the world during the 4 day at Santana, except for Bible Talk and a few phone calls. I checked into work every day, even the days they decided no one had to go in. My kids were out of school all week. So this Friday the family spent the day together. We played a board game, did some homework, watched a few movies, had a Family Devotional and got some Ice Cream. My youngest lost her first front tooth. It has been a long week.

I'm lucky. I must have cried about five times. Every time I turned on the news it was filled with heartbreak. Volunteering however, what I witnessed was a community filled with generosity. My job at times seemed to be to turn away people who wanted to donate to the evacuated families, because they kept coming non-stop and the needs for supplies had already been met early. Even people who had been evacuated themselves were coming to help others. It was amazing. Yet the reality is it is a heartbreaking time.

Here some picture I took. I didn't take any at the shelter out of respect.

Downtown: Smoke from the Harris Fire (as of 10/26: 5 deaths 33 injuries reported)

From Highway 94 to Santee, CA

From work: Again the Harris Fire (nearly 10 miles to my house)

Gift from a little girl at the Shelter (she was there before I started on Monday and was there when I left)

This is the third year in a row my family and I have attended the concerts. Every year is a great time. In past years we enjoyed such artist as: Mercy Me, Newsboys, Jeremy Camp, T-Bone, SoulJahz, Sackcloth Fashion, and many others. This year we could not wait to see Toby  Mac.

We started our day in the kids area, as we always do, enjoying a petting zoo, the jumpers, and the children's groups. There was some Veggie Tales trivia and an awesome performance called Repair Shop. We explored the vender collecting cool free stickers (that we later put all over the car) and buying a couple of souvenirs (note the monkey).

I'd like to make it four in a row, but we'll see. If all goes good, then maybe we will see you there.

Stay Faithful,

Jef

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