#sanmarcosfire

[stecki3d]

Pan of the #CocosFire from Double Peak Park. #SanMarcosFire

[ephilbrick]

The farthest point #coscosfire was towards #sanelijohills #sanelijolife #sanmarcosfire (at Double Peak)

[planterwife-blog]

Reflections from the airport

I cannot fully explain what it feels like to watch your city on national news burning. I cannot put into words the depth of emotion it is for me as I hear the stories from friends, teachers, and church members that have been evacuated and are closely watching the fire maps to see if their neighborhood, their home is still there. There are no words to express my gratitude for the countless men and women who have literally put themselves in the line of the fire to protect our community. My heart is overwhelmed.

We first heard of San Marcos, CA about 18 months ago. I can honestly say that before that time I don’t think I ever knew it existed. We knew where Carlsbad and Escondido were as we had been there on different family vacations, but San Marcos-the city between-usually goes unnoticed. We do not have an amusement park, nor do we have a huge population. But the first time our family visited San Marcos is Sept of 2012, we felt at home. We prayed over this city for months before deciding that this is where we would move. We have spent over a year getting to know the people, and getting involved. We are so passionate about our city that we have shared our vision with others who either have already moved with us or would like to.

So, for me-for my family, San Marcos is more than just a place we live. San Marcos is our home. The last eight and a half months I wake up each day thankful that God orchestrated our story to move here. I wake up thankful for the people, for the parks, for the hills, for our city. The last few days, honestly I have not slept. My heart is breaking for a family I know who saw their neighborhood on the news-houses going up in flames-and each time the camera pans, they look to see if their house was one of them. My heart aches for the family we know whose house was spared, but 3 blocks from them there is utter destruction. I want to DO something for the countless families that are displaced (40k people in total as I write this) with children who are wondering why they can’t go home or play with their toys. Some of these friends have not been in their own homes since Wednesday afternoon.

How do you explain this to a child? How do you give them hope? How can we meet the needs the Red Cross doesn’t? These are the questions we are wrestling with right now. These are the things we are trying to process through. The reality is that for many of the people whose lives are being impacted and changed through these fires, there is very little to no hope. I have been reading posts from churches who have their doors open for those who want to come and while I am truly thankful they have opened their doors, shouldn’t the church GO to the people? Shouldn’t we who know hope, share it?

I have been blown away by the people in our church the last few days. We knew when we hired our children’s lead that she was something pretty incredible, but we were even surprised by the lengths to which she has gone to show our city the hope of Jesus. She has been displaced because of the fires. Her entire family (including her 2 young children) have been staying with friends, while she is at the shelter handing out popscicles, toys, water and hope.

I was blown away by our volunteer lead worshipper who took off work early yesterday to show up at the shelter and lead a time of worship for those who have been evacuated. He has only been with Catalyst for a few weeks, but I am so very thankful that God placed him on our team at just the right time.

We have attenders who were messaging me all day wondering how they can help, stuck at home because of road closures. And we have members who battled traffic to hang out and pray with people all day.

In the midst of the fires, God is working. In the middle of the chaos, the brokenness, He is healing. In the dark places, there is hope. My prayer is that our team (and when we land, us too) will be able to effectively meet the needs that are in front of us in the name and love of Jesus. We spent the last few days at a training talking about the WHY of church planting: bringing the hope of Jesus to a broken world. Now, we get to do that.

[planterwife-blog]

My son took this picture on our way home tonight from my parents house. He was so excited that even through the thick, immense smoke, you could see the sun! We arrived back in SM today, and the fire seems to be calming down. It is now 10% contained, and while there is still obvious fire damage and fire lines, I did not witness the firenados that were there yesterday. As the weather begins to cool, I look forward to our city getting to go home, assess the damage and rebuild. Keep us in your prayers.

[younggypsy]

looking like a war in my city..

[planterwife-blog]

My first thoughts on the fires

The last two days have been raw. They have been difficult. I have cried. I have been terrified. I have felt my heart jump. I am working through the myriad of emotions that are swarming my heart and attempting to sort out everything that is coming in and all the pictures my friends and family have sent. I have agonized over our home and our kids, and not being there.

Monday night Russ and I boarded a plane to Chicago for a church planters training. Wednesday we were notified that our neighboring city, Carlsbad, had a destructive fire that devastated many of its residents (and our friends). Later that day we were notified of a new fire (one of 9 currently burning in our county) that was now literally in our backyard. Our children’s lead, along with many of our friends and church families have been evacuated.

My head swirls about between fear, urgency, and faith. Something remarkable has started to happen though. People who we have been leading took over and have started serving our community. People that we do not even know are spreading our link around facebook to attempt to raise money for the 40,000 people who are currently unable to return to their homes in San Marcos alone.

I have no idea what the next few days are going to look like. My prayer is that this fire is extinguished without the loss of life, and that the people who are left with ashes can find Hope in Jesus. I will keep attempting to process through this on my blog, as well as try to keep you all informed. Just know that much of what we know is from CNN too, the difference being those are our neighbors and friends houses on TV. Please help us in spreading the word about Catalyst’s fire relief fund so that when the flames subside, we can be there to start rebuilding lives immediately. Please pray for our church as we live in this, process through it and do our best to be Jesus to the broken.

Russ and I fly home in the morning-the earliest flight that was available. Our kids went to my parents after school was cancelled so that Bella’s asthma wouldn’t be any more effected. Please keep our family, our friends and neighbors, and our church in your prayers.

[precursorlegacy]

it's super smokey outside and i keep hearing firetrucks zoom by my house :(

[stecki3d]

#timelapse of #SanMarcosFire from 12:15pm to 2:15pm. #WashingtoniaFire #CocosFire