This is going to be a bit of a departure from my family stories I usually post, but I learned so many things from this event that I want to remember. While we were in California, we heard that there was a huge lightning storm going through our area of Frisco at home. Earlier in the summer a house .5 miles from us was struck by lightning and burnt down. I was really nervous being away from home and knowing my house was vacant. I was keeping tabs on the lightning with a weatherbug app I have that shows where lightning was striking. I couldn't do anything, so I don't know why I was worrying about it so much (except that I'm the world's worst worry wort), but it kept me up for a while. I finally decided to say a little prayer and go to bed.
I am a part of a few different Facebook groups for my neighborhood and my ward. When I woke up there was a message on both that another house had been struck and burnt down a mile from my house. Someone mentioned on our Ward page that that sounded like our friends, Dave and Melissa Johnson's house. As the morning went on, it was confirmed that the Johnsons' home was the one that had been struck and was a complete loss. Thankfully, they were on summer vacation in Utah. I say "thankfully" because in Texas most of the Master Bedrooms are built on the ground floor while the rest of the bedrooms are upstairs. This was true in the Johnson home. The lightning had struck the roof above the bedroom over their little two year old that would've been in a crib. They have 4 children ages 2-8 and the outcome may have been far different had they been home. Their home was lost, but they were all okay--physically anyway.
The amazing part to me was what happened next. Our Ward family (who actually wasn't their ward anymore since our ward was split back in May) stepped up to help this family in a huge way. Women went to their home before they got home and tried to save as many items/pictures as they could. They got them out of the house and dried off to try to save them. They started care packages and donations came pouring in from our wonderful community of Frisco. The Johnson's started their 2 day trek home from Utah not having a clue what they would find when they came back. Their yard was heart attacked by our sweet sisters and babysitting, etc. was all set up for them when they came home so they could deal with insurance, etc. to figure out what they needed to do next.
I am so grateful that my little family got to serve this sweet family even though we weren't there. I called Jared that morning (he was in Chicago) and told him about what had happened. He was heading home the next day and suggested that we should offer our house to them when they get back since I was gone and he would be traveling. I thought it was a wonderful idea and called my Relief Society President to let her know our house was open. She called me back to let me know that we had answered a prayer and that the Johnson's would be staying in our home. Jared got home the next day and one of my friends came and helped him clean the house, do laundry, etc. He was such a trooper, though, and really did most of it by himself. Other ladies came and dropped off gift baskets for the kids, food for our fridge, new towels for their family, etc. It was amazing. Jared was so sweet and fielded all the women coming and going into our house--most of whom he didn't know! I think it says a lot about Jared's big heart. That's one of the things I love about him. The Johnson family came in that afternoon and were just in shock. Melissa broke down in tears as Jared handed over our keys and left. He stayed at a friend's house the rest of the weekend before he headed out of town and the Johnson family stayed in our home for two weeks.
When I got home, several of our sisters came and cleaned my house after the Johnson's left. When I walked in my door it brought me to tears. I still get teary when I think about it. The Spirit in my home was so strong. You could tell that so much love and service had been going in and out of my house while they had been there. Melissa later told me that my house will always be a sacred place to her because it was a place of refuge for her little family as they struggled with seeing their home for the first time, figuring out what to do, find a new place, etc. I love this dear family and think they are amazing. They had just moved into their new home in February. They lived in a different house in our ward, but they moved into their "dream home". Melissa had spent so much time and effort perfecting her home. I think it put a lot of things into perspective for me as to what's important in life. I feel like Jared and I were more blessed than they were because that Spirit stayed in our home for a really long time after that. Hopefully some of that is still here. We love you Johnson Family!
Some of the cards the primary kids had made for the Johnson kids:
Some of my wonderful friends that first day getting plans into action. I love all of these women.
The heart attacks in the front that the Johnson's came home to. The inside of their house was covered in two inches of water/soot/ash. It was so sad to see such a beautiful home like that. This week they just tore it down to start the rebuilding it.
Oh how my heart aches for these two.
The gift baskets and food:
Since then 2 more homes in our immediate vicinity (one two blocks from us) have been struck by lightning and burnt down. If anyone ever hears of a lightning storm going through North Texas, could you do us a favor and say a little prayer that our house won't be struck? It's a little hard to feel calm about it these days.
Now a little break for little sister. This girl has been hilarious lately. She absolutely lights up a room with this sweet smile. She's getting more teeth and learning how to tease her brother. Her favorite thing lately is to take Parker's action figures and throw them down the hall. Karma, Parker. Karma.
Trying on Brody's Angry Bird costume from last year. haha!
Now on to friend camp! Every year this amazing lady from our ward, Celeste Cragun, puts together a friend camp. She has us turn in registration forms in May so she has time to put groups together. She arranges groups by age and for a week each mom has one themed day to have the group. Then the rest of the week, the kids reconnect with friends the week before school starts, and the moms get a break! My group was the 5-7 year olds. I had 11 of them I think? I had them for 3 hours and we did a Texas theme. We did Texas crafts, learned a line dance, did old fashioned games (like Blongo ball), made footballs, etc. It was really fun and my kids loved it. They loved the whole week, actually!
Onnica, Max, Brody, and Gavin
The whole crew:
Bluebonnet finger paintings:
Blongo ball:
Cutest kids!
Max, Gavin, Cameron, Kennedy, Brody, Corbyn, Ella
Carlie, Ashlyn, Parker, and Onnica
On Friday of that week we have a huge pool party with all the moms and kids that participated. As you can see from Celeste's post, she had 28 moms and 50+ kids participate this year. We are so lucky to live in such a fun place!
