Here is today's letter to my niece as the start of Shabbat:
All is getting back to normal… the fires are under control and the wind has stayed down. We did not have to evacuate… it is sad for our community (the whole of San Diego) because 1000s of homes were lost – this fire was the worst natural disaster in a long time in Southern Ca. 17 people from Emmanuel Faith lost their homes. A physician that works with Cheryl – almost lost her life – she barely got out alive… lots of stories of real close calls. The evacuation was huge – close to 1’000,000 people had to move somewhere… yet everything worked very smoothly overall – the Feds were right on top of things – the centers opened without a hitch – there were places to go if you were out of your house – tents, blankets, food, etc was plentiful – volunteers galore to help people – it was an incredible outpouring of love and money. The loss of life minimal really for the size of the disaster. God is awesome – really. We had help from the Mexican fire-fighters – they brought their engines from Tijuana and the border to fight the fires as well as the manpower to help people – amazing. Stories abound of heroism – to save homes and property as well as lives. It is our prayer that God would use this event to bring people closer to himself – let me tell you there were lots of praying going on in San Diego this week.
Shabbat Shalom.
