Have no anxiety at all, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God. Then the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
Phil 4:6-7



Monday, December 26, 2011

The first day...





I had not decided if I would do the Twelve days of Christmas this year. With Geoffrey still recovering from his tonsillectomy, and not feeling altogether in the spirit of the season, I thought it might be better to just stay silent (if you can't something nice...).

And then yesterday whizzed by with a great deal of excitement, one quick blaze, I thought I must start, albeit a day late.

Yesterday, in the middle of a peaceful afternoon, we had a fire. Not the kind in the fireplace, mind you. This one was in the middle of the kitchen table, the flames curling up around the chandelier.

At breakfast, I had lit the Advent wreath, the last two candles that were left and the white candle in the center. And then after breakfast, a late one, we all went to other areas of the house (um...never leave lit candles unattended). At around 3 in the afternoon, Faith and I were in the living room, I was showing her how to use her new knitting loom, when Geoff peeked his head around the corner and calmly asked, "Do we have a fire extinguisher?"

"Um...yes, why?"

"The wreath is on fire."

Up I jumped, I thought he meant the one up on the family room mantel, and when I turned the corner into the kitchen I saw a ball of fire on the table, engulfing the entire Advent wreath, the flames leaping up around the kitchen chandelier. My first instinct was to grab a big mixing bowl full of soapy water from the dishwater in the sink and dump it on the fire. A second dowsing got it all the way out, just as Doug ran in from the backyard where he had been sitting with his outdoor fire. He had looked up to the house and saw flames on the inside, and ran in just in time to see the last flame sputter out. The smoke was awful, lung-burning stuff, so we threw open the windows and ran to the front porch.

Faith was upset, crying from fear as well as relief, and moments later my in-laws pulled up, at the time they had planned to visit.

Unfortunately we had quite a mess to clean up, with water everywhere, and a big black scar on the kitchen table. The glass candlestick that held the white candle had shattered when I threw the water on it and shards of glass were everywhere, luckily no one got hit with it. Fortunately I had not used a table cloth or we would have had a bigger disaster, and probably would have had to call the fire department. As it is, the table might be saved, but I think the burn is probably more than skin deep. The chandelier was blackened, but not ruined, and, thank God, no one was hurt.

I learned my lesson about burning candles, especially those not in glass jars. Next year's Advent wreath will not have loose candles, and I will never light another candle not safely tucked down inside glass. As I lie in bed last night I imagined other scenarios, those that didn't happen, but just as easily could have. With all of us preoccupied with other activities, if the boys had not been in the family room, the entire kitchen could have been in flames before we noticed.

I hope you will learn a lesson from me, as well, and not light candles unattended (that warning is most definitely placed on candles for a reason).

And I hope that we have, from this day on, eleven calm days of Christmas.




13 comments:

  1. oh yikes! no one needs that kind of excitement! I am so glad that no one was hurt. And I would have been crying too! . .

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  2. Oh, Barb, I am STILL thanking God for keeping us safe last week. Daughter lit the four candles one evening. I had planned on extinguishing them before I went to bed (but forgot) and my husband didn't notice them when he came up to bed. In the morning, I noticed the wreath was empty and we could not figure out where the candles were. I even called my husband at work to ask if he'd done something with them. Upon closer examination, I found the wicks in the holders and pools of wax amidst the (flammable) greenery around each candle holder. Yikes! Very thankful for God's protection that night. Glad you are okay too.

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  3. Oh, gosh, I'm so glad you're all okay and the damage wasn't worse! I feel compelled to point out that the cheap (or improperly made, not necessarily cheap) glass jars do sometimes explode as well. Nothing is a sure thing, but constant vigilance is a must.

    I'll pray for the next 11 Christmas days to be peaceful and joyful! You need it!

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  4. Barbara, thanking God for keeping you and your family safe. I hope your son is recovering well from his surgery. Wishing you a much more peace-filled eleven days. God bless. : )

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  5. Thank God you all are safe! I too, have become very wary of candles after I had a small tea light size candle go nuts and become a burning nightmare with flames one foot high several years ago. I hope your table can be saved.

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  6. Um, wow. I know that bonfires are a Catholic tradition, but I don't think they were ever an indoor activity! I'm glad you are all safe and the damage is mostly cosmetic. May you have peace and joy and no more excitement for the rest of the year!

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  7. On a practical note, I have a bowl filled with sand that I put prayer candles in. When I have forgotten them, they have simply burned down and extinguished themselves in the sand. That might be something to consider for next year. Or maybe pillar candles that burn straight down the middle leaving a ring of wax protection between the flame and the wreath.

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  8. We have a sculpted metal advent ring, and I don't usually, but this year, I put a few trimmings from the Christmas tree around it, to pretty it up a bit. Well, last week, when those branches were good and dry and the candles nice and low, a couple of those little sprigs caught fire! Luckily, we only light ours at dinner time, and we were all there to quickly extinguish the flames. Hope the rest of your Christmas is uneventful!

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  9. Oh Barbara! What a relief that everyone is OK! I would have been right there with Faith...crying and scared to death!
    Thanks for the reminder about the candles.
    Merry Christmas!

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  10. So glad everyone is okay! I vote for sand in glass holders, and for greenery that is a bit farther from the flame. Also, there are battery-operated LED pillar candles that flicker like real ones and even have a scent! I'll bet you could find some on sale right now. When I worked in florist shops, we always attached a warning tag to the flower arrangements that included candles. I'm still praying for Geoff's recovery, and now for a peaceful completion of your 12 days. -- Rosemary

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  11. Oh no! I am so sorry, Barbara! I am so glad no one was hurt ... and the damage wasn't too major. I hope today was much more peaceful and calm for all of you.

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  12. I HATE fires. I have been so paranoid after my incident a couple of weeks ago.

    Thankful all turned out OK!

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  13. You are all VERY blessed! I like all these ideas for less-flammable Advent wreaths :) I hope that the remaining Days of Christmas are much less...eventful.

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I appreciate your comments -- sometimes I feel like I'm talking to myself!