---

On day 20 we get to go home.

Today is the day. After weeks of waiting and wondering, we were notified that we would be placed under pre-evacuation notice once more, but that we get to go home. We have to drive slowly because the fire is still a threat and the firefighters are still at work. However, with the tropical storm headed our way, much needed rain is coming with it.

Rain. The only thing that can put this fire out for good.

It’s a weird feeling, knowing that what we need to quench this fire could also cause another danger in and of itself. If we receive too much rain, there will be flooding and mudslides. So, even though we get to go home, we don’t get to unpack. Not yet. Instead, we will begin sandbagging and preparing for the blessing of rain, and perhaps the dangers of it as well.

But we get to go home.

Home.

I can’t express how much good that does for our hearts. Our beautiful home is waiting. Our memories, our future memories… are all still there… are all still standing.

I imagine that someday, when we pass away from this life, we will feel similarly as we are greeted by God and welcomed into our heavenly home. We will feel peace, happiness, and relief.

So, while we’re not out of the woods quite yet, we are grateful. We feel extremely blessed. Our Father in Heaven is watching over us. His angels are here protecting us. There is no other explanation to explain the miracles that have happened over these past weeks.

And we are grateful.

We are blessed.

And despite the precarious state we are returning to, we are coming home… and it has never felt so wonderful.

Love, Shalee