It’s FiveMinuteFriday! Today we write for the love of the written word. No extreme editing, just write. The word prompt is “Close”.

Go!

A couple of years ago, while living in Europe, (Tallinn, Estonia to be exact), we had settled in our apartment right downtown, and were doing our best to become acclimated to the culture and lifestyle of these beautiful people.

Our apartment had eight floors, was sandwiched between other businesses, one of them was of the “don’t-tell-your-mother-kind”, but basically it was a decent part of town. We had a great view of the street below our cubby hole, which was just short of 600 square feet. It actually felt much larger because of the open floor plan, and it was perfect for two. Even though it was a simple “flat”, it was equipped with the typical Northern European necessity…a Finnish sauna!

Early one morning, I was awakened by voices, voices that sounded like they were right outside our window. That was impossible, since we were on the third floor, so I ventured to the door and looked outside. There was no one around. Yet I still heard people talking, and commotion, so I went to the window, pulled up the blinds and was shocked to see two firemen coming up a ladder! The windows only “tipped” in so I couldn’t get my head out to see as well as I would like. What I could see was a huge crowd gathered on the sidewalk across the street and smoke. Lots of smoke!

Panic was soon to set in so I rushed and awakened The Sweetheart.

“We are on fire!! We have to get out now!”

This wonderful man and I will celebrate our 35^th wedding anniversary July 20. We know each other pretty well and I knew he would not be as anxious and terrified as I was. He got up and assessed the situation and said that no one had come to evacuate the building so it must be contained.

What??!!! Who in their right mind would stay in a building that was on fire just because no one had told us to get out??!

I was already dressed and ready to head out the door. Eternity passes while he gets prepared; I refused to let him SHOWER, and finally we venture out of our apartment. Another tenant was locking their door and starting down the hallway too. We asked if they knew anything about what was going on and their reply? “There is a fire.”

Thanks, Buddy.

Once downstairs, out the door and across the street, we can get a better look.  There are several fire trucks and I see flames and smoke pouring out of an eight story window right above our apartment! But the Estonians? Calm, cool, collected, and absolutely no panic.

Our “neighbors”, in the apartment beside us, were the most puzzling. They did not evacuate! As a matter of fact, she was hanging out the window giving instruction to the fire department! She was not going to leave; she was just going to watch everything from her own “window seat”.

This was unbelievable to me. Your building is on fire and you are so close to it that you can smell the smoke and see the flames, but you decide to stay put?

In all of this, I discovered that yes, I probably over-react.

I have always been a baby when it comes to foreboding disaster and impending doom. I tend to want to get away from it, to protect myself and my family, to flat out RUN!

I wasn’t crazy about living on the third floor to begin with, I am extremely claustrophobic, I cannot stand to be closed in and will not take an elevator without The Sweetheart attached to my side. Yes, it’s bad.

Now I am also going to be terrified of fires. We haven’t been in this beautiful country even two weeks and already I am dreading the remaining ten in this apartment.

We make our way back upstairs and fight the smell of smoke for weeks to come. Every night when I would try to go to sleep I would replay the events of the day of the fire over and over in my head. It was too close, too personal and just too scary. (My pictures are after the fact so unfortunately, it doesn’t look as bad as it I remember it!)

 

But one night it was as if the Lord spoke to me and said that even though the fire was frightening, that there was nothing to be afraid of.

He had brought us there, we had a work to do, and He would take care of His people.

I could rest and take great comfort in the fact that I was protected and being “watched over”. I just needed to trust.

Do not fear, do not panic. “I am close.”

Stop.

 

Sharing with Fellowship Fridays, Weekend Brew, Recommendation Saturday, Sunday Stillness, Inspire Me Monday, Living Proverbs 31, Modest Mondays