There are times in which I am never too sure how to count blessings.
The White Fire, when last I heard, was contained by 20%. The high winds that send a wildfire spiraling out of control suddenly abated. They didn't slowly decrease in strength - they simply "just stopped." That enabled helicopters and sluice planes to go to work. What was an enormous blessing.
There have not been any lives lost, and we pray that there isn't in the days to come. That is a huge blessing.
Despite so many horses being stabled in Spaghetti Flats, only one old horse perished. All others were taken to safety.
Had this wildfire started 14 days from now the gates to the Ruidoso Downs Racetrack would have been opened to horsemen and women across the Southwest. With thousands of horses and additional people on the track a wildfire of this magnitude would have been mass chaos. And would have seriously jeopardized lives. A blessing so large I cannot find the words to describe it.
The entire situation has been simply miraculous, and I give God all the glory.
Yet, people have lost their homes and barns. And there is such a sadness about their losses because I know the heartache they must feel. I know from experience.
When you are the person who is now homeless it's such a lonely feeling. Lost and confusing. It's not the "why me" which weighs upon the heart. It's "I need a home to go home to." It's watching people return home to normalcy, when normalcy is light years away for yourself. It's that simplistic.
Praying for all concerned, and praising God that so many people have been given so many blessings, but praying especially for those who lost all.
Things should be made as simple as possible, but not any simpler. ~ Albert Einstein
