Around 5:30 this morning we were jolted awake by the most terrifying, booming noises and sounds of shattering glass. All this set off our glass shattering detector on our alarm, triggering that chaos as well. To be shocked out of a deep sleep to that kind of noise is paralyzingly. It sounded like our house was being bombed. All I could think of was where my kids were and getting to them, but I could not move.

Praise God the only casualties were material things. This was a very heavy mirror. We did not move the pictured chest that was against the wall, pre-fall. The force of the mirror thrust the chest out into the room. Everything on the chest, two lamps and a heavy, leaded glass bowl full of cut glass decorative ornaments, was shattered.

One thing survived untouched. That is a special picture of Carter and Macey in the black frame that has always been in that exact place. The picture not only didn’t break, it didn’t even move. Of all the things in the zone of destruction the picture frame was the most vulnerable because it is very light and made of weak material, yet it prevailed without even a nudge in another direction. Interesting!

This photo does not do the mess justice. Chards of glass spanned three rooms, floors are badly scratched and debris is everywhere. None of this is going to Heaven with me except my children, and I think the status of their picture so sweetly reminds me of that. Thank you God for all the little blessings in the big messes of our lives. A photo is worth a thousand words; Your words of faithfulness and protection.