Fire!!!

No, not the Holy Spirit kind - the natural kind!  Fire has been blazing in our valley for 2 days.

We are living (house-sitting for a friend) in a home on the side of a mountain overlooking a large valley.  Part of the valley is made up of what they call the "vlei" - a brush land nature preserve with a few scattered small lakes.  This area leads on out to the ocean.

A fire started in the afternoon in the vlei.  Two helicopters with huge water buckets battled the blaze for several hours, but had to stop when night came.  Firetrucks stood guard over the blaze during the night.

When I awoke the next morning, it was bigger than ever and spreading.  I told my neighbor that if this was a Calif. brush fire, they would be evacuating us all.  She calmly replied, "Not here."

The fire kept burning and spreading throughout the day, moving closer to the main road and to structures.  In early evening it turned into a big, bright orange ball as it hit an area of thick growth.  I watched it through the evening - almost like a fireworks display.  I again went to bed with the fire brightly blazing.

By the second morning, it was smaller.......and, thankfully, by that night it was only smoldering.  On the third morning I could plainly see the huge scorched area that had burned.  Wonderfully, no one was hurt.  I haven't heard the final report about structures.

Watching this fire was amazing - so large, so powerful, so fast, so all-consuming!  It was riveting.  I wanted to just stand and watch it's might and power.  I long to see that same thing happen with a spiritual fire in this land!!  May God light South Africa on fire with His Spirit.

"The flame sets the mountains ablaze......"  Psalm 83:14