starting off with a bang!...almost...

First of all, I'd like to say that we have been so humbled by what we are about to share with you. In some ways, it may seem small and not a big deal, but to us, it has been a testimony of God's goodness and mercy in EVERY area of life(this is NOT an endorsement in any way of Joel Osteen's blasphemous "preaching", just fyi). We want it to be known that we know our God is faithful and good even if this story had turned out to be the opposite outcome. Our hearts might be heavier, but we would still believe and rejoice in the fact that Christ is more than sufficient. Praise His name for His faithfulness in all circumstances. He's worthy!

So...this weekend, starting last Thursday, February 4th, the McCoy's, Haddocks/McNeills, and the McCoy's youth group from Cove City all hit up the slopes in Davis, WV, at Timberline Ski Resort. Friday's weather was great, probably high 30s-low 40s, with a few spots of sunshine. There weren't many people on the slopes, so we had a blast! You could ski to the bottom and hop right on the chairlift to the top...just awesome! Saturday started out on the rough side since the crowds had officially arrived, and everyone from little ski bunnies who were just introduced to the slopes, to veterans who dressed with Swedish-looking cape attire, to the Timberline Ski team were out cutting it up. Now, about mid-afternoon, it started drizzling rain, and then not too long after that, raining pretty consistently. Holly and I held out as long as we could, but when we discovered our gloves were soaked through, we decided to call it quits. John and the Matts, Jeremy, Meredith, and her friend Sarah were still out there braving the elements, but shortly after Holly and I headed in, the wind picked up and the temperature dropped, creating freezing rain and strong enough wind gusts that they stopped the chair lifts once the freezing rain turned into snow. It was a blizzard! Super fun...at least, I enjoyed it from the warm couch inside. The wind was so intense no one went back out skiing for the rest of the night. It was quite humorous to watch those brave souls who were trying to still get their money's worth and poled their arms off trying to get to the chair lift. Some gave up fighting and detoured to the ski lodge...others, though it took a very long while, finally made it to the bottom. If you could have seen the intensity of the wind, and their valiant efforts, you would have applauded and laughed at the same time. Too funny.

By the way, let me also make a note that my husband was rockin the slopes as well! He hadn't been since we met 5 years ago on a McCoy ski trip to Timberline, but the man strapped on a pair of snowblades, and couldn't be stopped after that. I was so impressed, and am so thankful that even when he was struggling on the more difficult slopes, he was willing and able to try any slope we went to. And my thanks to the fellas that he came back in one piece. Seriously, what a catch!

Sunday, we packed up early and were out before 9am, which allowed us to make great time on the road getting home. I had worked really hard before we left to make sure the kitchen was dirty-dish free and the living room was spotless so that when we got home we could relax on the final evening before we got back to work. We arrived back in ol' Garner around 4:45pm, and John headed to unlock the front door. I grabbed a suitcase from the back and started up the walkway, when I noticed a funny smell. I was just about to comment when John, who's standing on the front porch, says "I smell propane or something." Yikes! We proceed to go inside (seriously, if you ever think you smell gas, stay OUTSIDE until you call the gas company. Going inside is quite stupid), and this awful rotten-egg like smell smacks you in the face. Ugh! It was so awful. Still not 100% sure what it was, I think we were secretly hoping that it was just some bad food or we forgot to empty the trash before we left, we kept sniffing around and inspecting the trash, the fridge, anything we could think of might be the source. We opened some windows and doors to get some fresh air in, brought in the remainder of our luggage, and I in my "what-if" mindset shut off our heat. Since it was Super Bowl night, I ran to the store to grab a few things, and I get a call from John who says he thinks we have a gas leak, and he's called PSNC Energy and they're coming right over. Uh oh!

Gas guy comes, and we do indeed have a gas leak. He shuts off the broken line (meaning now we have no downstairs heat) and tells us we'll be safe to enter the house in about 10 minutes or so. Who knows how long that big ol' machine has been leaking! We had been gone since Thursday, and our bill for January jumped up sky high from the norm, so it's probable that it had been slowly leaking for who knows how long. Our neighbors also shared with us that they could smell it really strongly at their house on Sunday morning, but they didn't have any way of contacting us. Rats! Thankfully, despite us not making wise choices when we got inside(you aren't even supposed to turn on a light), our house did not explode! Praise the Lord. As far as we know, we'll get the smell out of the house, repair the HVAC, and be good to go!

Not gonna happen...our HVAC repair guy(who also happens to be a friend of John's) kindly came over to take a look on Monday afternoon. John describes what happened to him, and Rick reassures him that it's highly probable that it's a simple fix. However, upon opening up the panel to look inside our unit, John hears an immediate "This isn't good." He scoots over to let John take a look, and what he sees was completely unexpected. The heat sensor safety switch, which is supposed to shut off the system when the burners reach a certain temperature, had been moved up and far away from where it needed to be. At some point, this caused a fire in our unit(probably before we lived there), which had also melted the insulation off the wires and now they were all fused together. Rick said it is a wonder that our house is not a pile of sticks right now because it should have blown up with the amount of gas that leaked into our house, and with time bomb that was our HVAC.

So begins my list of praises to the Lord...

1) That God graciously preserved our house from blowing itself to smithereens, and saving our neighbors houses from damage as well.

2) That, if our house had exploded, this happened during a time when we weren't home to possibly get "smithereened" with it

3) Our system was almost to the end of it's life anyways, so it doesn't hurt our hearts to see it go

4) We're only having to pay some $$$$ for a new heating system, not for building an entirely new house! And, for different reasons we've already had to push back different projects in the house so this isn't a major setback for us financially

5) The Green Bean is still kicking...please pray for it to continue to last us a while longer!

6) For Rick and his wisdom and experience and His help. May He come to know the true King.

7) That while we were processing the news of having to buy a new system(we were driving to a meeting) we came around a curve and there was bright and bold rainbow! This just encouraged us so much because of the reason for the rainbow. We didn't feel like God was saying anything to us specifically. We were just reminded of the faithful, just, and good God that has been Lord and High King of all creation from generation to generation, from the beginning of time and forever. There were no promises of "our lives will be easier now, let's not worry about it," but I did think, this is such a small matter in comparison to such an incredible God; yet He has cared and has been so kind to protect us from the "what-ifs" of our situation over this weekend. It's hard to even explain this understanding of knowing that nothing John or I have done has earned his loving kindness, yet we have SEEN it, we have known Him to be True. And I feel so strongly that even if our house had blown up, as hard and terrible as that would have been, when putting things into perspective, a house blowing up vs. a mighty King and Ruler of the earth, our house and gas leaks and gross smells and dipping into savings doesn't matter at all! It's a part of life, sometimes hard emotionally or physically or financially, but my hope isn't in my house, it isn't in my behavior or of the behavior of those around me...my hope is in Christ. And I hope and pray that for the rest of my life, despite persecution or death that may come, I will still be able to trust Him and worship Him because He is Hope and Life and Truth.

Pictures of the ski trip to come later...