Tuesday, July 10, 2007

Community Outpouring

A week ago tonight a local business suffered a devastating fire. We have a family owned orchard and greenhouse "just up the road" who supply all kinds of apples, vegetables, flowers and such. At Christmas time they market Christmas trees and wreaths. They stay open year around and everyone knows them. What is even more shocking is that this is the second time a fire has destroyed their business. That happened about 17 years ago, and they persevered and rebuilt.

Here they are again, the fire wiped out their main retail area and apple storage. The fire did not destroy their greenhouses or hydroponic tomato center or the bedding plants. Of course, they have lots of stuff growing out in the fields as well. So despite the devastation, they were open for business on July 5th. It might be primitive, with their cashier standing under an umbrella using a hand-held calculator, but they are open. And the community has been there. This family has been overwhelmed by the level of support they are receiving from all over. People were there at the time of the fire providing water and food for the firefighters. People have been there each and every day since they opened, buying what they can to show this family that they matter to this area.

At this point, they are evaluating where to go from here. As one family member told my mom yesterday, "God doesn't give you more than you can handle." A great testimony from someone who is going through the same trial a second time.

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