Count your many Blessings

Skylah, Ranoah and Mom were out in the pool, enjoying the hot 100 degree weather, under the shade of the tall, intimidating pine trees. Dad just went inside a few minutes prior to start making dinner before their family friends arrived to join in the simple, yet enticing festivities. As Mom was pulling the little air-filled tube around with her giggling, curly-haired daughter inside of it, she looked up to the house to see if her son would be joining them in the pool soon. As she peered in through the window, a large, bright orange glow shown. It went away, then seconds later it was back. She knew in her mind what this had to be, but feared in her heart for what it was. As she rushed to the edge of the cooling water of the pool, hurrying to get her daughters out before she got out, to be sure they would be safe out of the water, she heard her husband's voice calling from the door for her, and then she saw it.... A flaming pot was immediately put out onto the porch, out of the shelter of their home. Smoke was pouring out of the house and down from the flames, in the direction of where Mom and the girls were scurrying out of the pool. Mom told her girls to stay on the grass next to the pool as she ran towards the flame. She grabbed the hose on her way up. She quickly turned the hose on and took a few steps closer to the porch to spray the flames. Just as she heard her husband call out, "No!!", she sprayed the fire. Just as quickly as she sprayed the fire, she drew back the water, as she promptly discovered that it was a grease fire. This was made obvious by the exploding flames which appeared when she tried to spray them. Shawn tossed a baking pan on the top of the flames to try to put it out, as Hope sprayed the area around to keep it moist and protected from the searing flames. Their hearts pounded as they grew closer to controlling the flames, which, just seconds before, were raised above the roof due to the attempt to put it out with water.



Shawn and Hope both realized their mistakes during this event. As they looked around, they realized nothing was damaged. Except for the small ovenmits which Shawn used to carry the flaming pot from the house. A very tiny sacrifice to pay for a 5-minute trial-by-fire. Shawn had dealt with the situation wearing only his swim trunks, since he had just come from the water and was planning on coming back in as soon as it was time. He suffered minor burns from the splattering oil on his stomach and his arm. Most of the smoke had cleared before their friends even arrived. The meal, that night, was baked instead of fried as well.



Shawn learned to never leave the kitchen when he is cooking. Hope learned to ask, first, what she can do to help. The whole family learned how to constantly "Count Your Many Blessings".

The Brave Ovenmits...

The Grease & Smoke Stained Porch, the next Morning...