In Struggling Times- By Megan

“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:6

This Bible verse really stood out to me these past weeks. After we got evacuated, I really struggled with my faith. I was wondering why God would allow this all to happen. Why did He have the fire burn our neighbors' homes? Why did it burn our barn? Why did God let so many people lose their houses? I still don’t have the answers to these questions. All I know is that God has a bigger plan in store for all of this. We just need to trust His timing.

On August 15th the McDougall Creek fire sparked on the West Side of Kelowna. Smoke was in the air for days as the fire grew, and no one ever thought that the fire would grow to the lengths it did. Wednesday morning, the fire was said to be up to 60 hectares. Within three hours, the fire had grown to almost 300 hectares.

The mountain behind our house. Our house is the little lights in the far-right corner.

Thursday afternoon, the fire was said to be more than 2,000 hectares. As the day dragged on, the fire continued to grow. Over 400 farms and homes were evacuated as the winds shifted direction and headed towards downtown West Kelowna. Leaving most everything they had and valued in their houses, people drove across the bridge that separated Kelowna and West Kelowna to save their lives. Then later, on Thursday evening, the winds grew bigger and stronger causing the fire to jump the lake towards downtown Kelowna. Sparks landed in a grove of trees on the mountain near areas called Wilden and McKinley which caused panic. These two fires were dangerously close to many homes, and fire trucks, water tankers and police vehicles raced down Glenmore Road to access the fires. Winds had grown stronger and carried the fire all across the mountain. I watched from our yard as flames engulfed the mountain close to our house. Families all around Glenmore, Wilden and McKinley ran around their houses grabbing valuables and putting them into vehicles. Police drove up driveways, streets and neighborhoods telling people to leave their homes. My family did the same as all our friends. We packed up our valuables, some clothes, our pets and loaded up our cars. We knew that the fire had a way to grow before it would hit our house, but we wanted to be on the safe side and pack things up. At around 11pm, my sister and I went to my cousin's house to spend the night. They live right across the road from us on top of a smaller mountain, so we were safer up there than at our house. My Mom, Dad and all my brothers started to put up sprinklers all around the house. They wanted to make sure that everything was soaked around the yard. They stayed up most of the night, watching the fire as it aggressively shifted from tree to tree and towards houses over the mountain. Firemen worked feverishly to contain the fire, but the winds were not in their favour.

Friday morning came. The Wilden fire had doubled in size and was headed down towards the valley where farms were nestled in the backwoods. More evacuations were ordered, and more people had to flee their homes and long-lived memories. Our house and farm still stood untouched by the fire. Smoke was passing through the air as the wind shifted towards the north. The fire on the mountain had burned everything in its path. Now all that remained was burnt ground and ash.

Spot fires could be seen from our kitchen window. The fire still had to grow a large amount to ever touch the house, so everyone thought we would be fine. “The fire would never reach the farm,” they all said. But they were all wrong. Friday afternoon came and so did the wind. This time towards the south, which was our direction. And this time, the winds were stronger than the night before, which meant disaster was about to hit.

I was sitting at the kitchen table at my cousin's house when we got a phone call saying there were flames coming down the mountain.

Our house ^^^ The fire truck just

got to our house when the ring of

fire started up behind our house.

Panicking and rushing all around the house, I helped my cousins pack up all of their belongings and animals into the cars. At this point, my mind was going crazy. I was having such a bad panic attack that nearly caused me to faint out of exhaustion. I knew I needed to keep it together for my younger cousins who were all extremely scared of what was happening. I knew if they had seen me lose it, then they would right away panic even more. Still racing around the house and packing things up, I realized that I needed to call my mom and tell her what was happening. I knew she would have been packing things into the car and getting ready to leave, but I needed her to know that we were going with my cousins. I needed her to know we were safe.

Twenty minutes later, my Aunty, my two cousins, my younger sister and I, plus 7 pets, all piled into one little car and drove down the driveway. The smoke was so thick in the air that we couldn’t see much of anything around us. As we came around the corner where the driveway met the main road, I looked out the window and watched as flames reached our neighbor’s house. A police officer drove up next to us and rolled down his window. He was coming up to the house to tell us to leave. We told him we were leaving and heading to our friend's house. Finally, not being able to hold in all my emotions anymore, I burst into tears. I cried out to God in my heart, asking Him to protect our house and the houses around us. As we drove away from the house and farm, I looked back and watched as fire started to candle in the tall trees close to our house. Tears still streamed down my face as everything finally disappeared from view.

The afternoon dragged on as we came to our friend’s house. We hung out there for the day, all of us still very shaken up from everything, and none of us really knowing what to do next. We finally figured out where we were going to stay for the next few days. My cousins left and went to stay with some other friends and family. My sister and I went and stayed with my brother who lived just up the road from our friend's house. My Mom and Dad had just gotten there when we showed up, and the next few hours slowly ticked by as we sat around and just talked. Some of us fell asleep because we were all so exhausted. I didn’t sleep well that night. I kept waking up because I was scared and worried about the house and farm. None of us knew if our house even still stood.

Saturday morning rolled around and as people started to get up and make breakfast, I started texting my friend. Since she lived down the road, she was wondering if I wanted to go and hang out for the day to get my mind off of things. So, my younger sister and I did. Later that afternoon, my mom got a message that said, “The barn is gone”. With the message came a picture of our big 200ft barn burning. The winds had shifted again, and the fire came down the mountain and towards the house. Later we found out from our firefighter friend that there was a grass fire that had sparked behind the house. As that fire sparked, a burning tree had fallen onto a shed that was built behind the barn. The firemen had to choose to save the house or the barn. Automatically they chose the house. The firemen dealt with the grass fire and then rushed over to the barn and tried to save it. But it was too late. Within 15 minutes, the barn had completely collapsed. Everything inside and outside was completely gone. Five old cars; a Barracuda, a Camaro, a Honda, a Ford truck and an old race car had also all burnt. The devastation that the fire brought, we knew, would take months and even years to replace and repair. But we knew that this had all happened for a reason. God had a plan in all of this. We may not see it right away, but one day He will show us what He had in store.

The next few days came and went. The fire had burnt all the way up the mountain and back towards the valley where it had all started. This meant that the fire would likely die down after it hit the valley because it had already burnt everything there. Throughout those days, we kept watch on the news for any updates on when orders would lift, and we could go home. Wednesday came and we checked the evacuation orders. The website said that we would potentially be able to go home the next day; we would still remain on alert, but we could go home. This was such great news! We all knew that going home would be hard. Nothing was going to look like it did before, and a lot of things were going to change. We just didn’t expect how different it all looked in the end.

The next Thursday came, and we got the okay to go home. We couldn’t go until the evening, which gave us time to go shopping one last time and pack up all of our belongings and pets. By 7pm we headed home. The drive there was one I will always remember. As we drove up Glenmore Road, the sight of all the disaster the fire had caused came into view. Homes, cars, boats and trees on farms were all burnt.

the remnants of the barn ^^^

All that remained of them was little piles of ash and tin. Devastation had really hit our community. We drove around the corner and our farm came into view. Everything behind our house was black. Little puffs of smoke still rose from the mountain side as old tree roots continued to burn underground. The firemen had said the fire wouldn’t reach the house anymore, and the tree roots wouldn’t catch anything on fire. They just needed to burn out which meant that smoke would still be in the air for a while. After we parked the car and walked around the house to get a good view of things, I headed towards where the barn used to stand. Kids’ toys, lawn chairs and cushions, our bbq, our lawn bench and mats lined the front of the house. The firemen had taken everything from around our house and put it on the lawn and backyard so that if any of it caught fire, it wouldn’t right away spread to the house. I knew we were going to have a lot of cleanup to do once we had settled back home.

As I walked around the farm with my cousin, gazing at all the remnants of the barn and sheds and old cars, I relived a lot of old memories. Some funny, some scary, some bad, and some good. My mind couldn’t really grasp the thought that it was all gone. It was never going to be the same ever again. Sure, we would rebuild the barn, but it would never be the old barn that used to stand there and be a part of us in so many ways. I walked off by myself for a moment leaving my older sister and cousin. I stood and looked over the old barn.

One specific memory came to mind at this time. I remember one day, after seeing it start to rain, I rushed to put on my jacket and boots. Then I raced to the barn. As the rain started pouring, I sat down on the ground. All I did was listen to the heavy trickle of rain drop onto the tin roof. That sound was so amazing. It is something I will never forget. It was times like this that I would miss. I knew we could always build a new barn with new tin, but it wouldn’t hold all the old memories I had. Sure, we will make new memories in a new barn which will be great, but we will always remember the old, fun memories as well. Memories that would always stick with us. Memories that God allowed us to have and make with such special people and friends. Memories we will never forget and always treasure in our hearts.

As the next week went on, the fires lessened and were not a threat to our house anymore. At the end of this experience, I came to really know and trust God more. He had a plan and still has a plan for everything. He had a reason for our barn burning down. He had a reason for our neighbours losing their house. He always has a reason and a plan in mind. He will never leave us or forsake us. He will always make everything clear in His own time. We just need to remember to trust and wait on Him.

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.” Proverbs 3:5-6

Thank you so much for reading and thank you Megan for sharing this with us! If you have a comment, please state it below. We would love to hear from you and grow closer together. Click the buttons below to see this week's challenge and last week's story!

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