The fire season: it’s summer once again. Fire is the only potentially terrifying aspect of living in the Sierra Nevada foothills. The photo here is of the fire now burning above us, its southern edge currently seven aerial miles north of our home. Thankfully it is moving in the opposite direction, although at the moment it is only twelve percent contained.

One lesson from this is about ultimate safety. Betsey Ten Boom (Corrie’s sister and World War II rescuer) said, “In God is my only security.” That truth held onto her every day of her life, to its end after months in a Nazi concentration camp.

To some degree fire is a matter of scale. The King Fire two years ago covered 96,000 acres; this is only 1,200. But fire is primarily about location, and that can be luck of the draw. Of course mortal danger, in other forms, can be just as arbitrary in metropolitan areas, as well.

I’ll stick with Betsey Ten Boom – that is, with God. We can prepare all we can, but “one day at a time” is always a great way to live.

Your partner in ministry,

Betsy Schwarzentraub