Greetings!: Sixty Years Apart

Two important events 60 years apart came together last week in an event which we will never forget. It's amazing how the Lord controls these things.

SIXTY YEARS AGO - My wife's parents insisted that she buy an expensive set of Lifetime Stainless Steel Cookware that her uncle sold. At the time she was working in a bank and had no thoughts of getting married, but her parents thought it would be a good investment for her. So she bought it, stored it and didn't use it until a few years later when we got married and began housekeeping.

The set did have a lifetime guarantee and a few times over the years the company did replace, without charge, some pieces that turned out to be defective. These items were very high quality and we used them hard over the years. Today a new eight piece starter set would cost about $1,200. Her original set was a much larger set.

NOW JUMP AHEAD 60 YEARS TO A WEEK AGO - I was having some dental problems and I called our new dentist about 10:45. I knew they closed at noon but I thought maybe I could at least get an appointment for the following week. I was surprised when they said if you can get here in 15 minutes we can see you today. Now that was a challenge because we were at least 15 minutes away and faced the prospect of heavy Friday traffic to get there. But I said that I'd be there.

I called my wife and said that we must leave immediately. She is doing most of our driving now. So we ran to our car and made it to the dentist just in time. Unfortunately they found more problems than I had ever had during my life. About an hour later we were on our way home with more appointments scheduled.

We were about four miles from home when my wife suddenly remembered that she had placed eggs in a pan to hard boil them. Because we left in such a hurry we had forgotten to turn off the stove. We rushed the remaining distance not sure what we would find after almost two hours on the stove.

We rushed to the front door and when I opened it we heard the smoke alarm ringing and we were greeted with clouds of white smoke. It was so thick that I had trouble seeing to get to the kitchen. But I was able to remove the pot, turn the stove off and take the pot outside. Fortunately there were no flames yet, just loads of white smoke.

We opened windows and used fans. The smoke slowly disappeared but a terrible smell remained. We finally realized that we needed professional help. The first company we contacted never responded. The second responded and that evening they came and installed a large fan to clean the air and a deodorizer.

The next day I had several concerns and questions about their equipment and tried to contact them. It took five hours until I finally reached somebody who came out to check the equipment. He added another air cleaner and replaced the deodorizer which apparently was defective. So this equipment then ran until Tuesday. It was very loud but took care of much of the smell.

On Wednesday it was decided that we needed a cleaning crew and they sent us two technicians to begin working on cabinets, walls, rugs, etc. Time will tell how effective their work was. But thankfully we still have our house.

NOW HOW DO THESE TWO EVENTS CONNECT? Along the way we decided to try and replace the ruined pan. We found a Lfetime dealer who told us that a replacement pan would cost $150. However, he had a used one that he would sell for $50. We said that we would take it. He added that he was to be in the Lancaster area on Monday and would drop by to give it to us.

He came and when he looked at our damaged pan he told us that we were very fortunate to have used the Lifetime pan because of the way it was manufactured. He said that any other pan would have actually caught fire and we would have probably lost our house. Amazing!

So we thank my wife's parents for making her buy this set of cookware. We thank Lifetime for making such a durable product. But most of all we thank the Lord for protecting us and arranging for our protection years before we knew that we would even need it. God is so good!

Now time will tell the final outcome. Will they be able to clean it enough? Will we have any longtime effects from living here and breathing this smoke? We don't know but we trust the Lord to keep caring for us. Please pray with us about this.

FRIDAY UPDATE - We have been working with the restoration company for the past week. For four days they ran three pieces of equipment to try and clean and deodorize the air. Then two workers completely cleaned our kitchen - counters, cabinets, doors and walls. They decided that we had to replace our microwave because of smoke damage. Thankfully, despite the severe shortage of appliances, the Lord led us to a dealer who had exactly what we needed in stock and can install it for us on Thursday. Unless you’ve had to replace an appliance recently you probably don’t know what an answer to prayer this is. Others wanted a month to install a microwave with fewer features. Now they will have a company come to clean our curtains and drapes in our living room, dining room and den. Hopefully that will eliminate much of the remaining smell. Carpet cleaning is still a possibility.

Personally we are also dealing with some physical challenges which haven’t been helped by our stress and anxiety. But again, thankfully our house did not burn down. We will appreciate your prayers!

(1) I trust in God wherever I may be,

Upon the land or on the rolling sea,

For, come what may, from day to day,

My heav'nly Father watches over me.

I trust in God, I know He cares for me,

On mountain bleak or on the stormy sea;

Tho' billows roll, He keeps my soul,

My heavn'ly Father watches over me.

(2) He makes the rose an object of His care,

He guides the eagle thru the pathless air,

And surely He remembers me,

My heav'nly Father watches over me.