Ladies and gentlemen, the San Fernando Valley part of Los Angeles is burning! There was a fire to the northeast and not there's one to the north/northwest part. I was wondering what smelled funky (like burnt toast with something else) when I woke up at 5 in the morning and on the way to English Lit I saw that it was because of the fire. When I got out of class, I noticed ANOTHER fire had started north of us. I took this picture closer to my house. It's the eeriest thing to see the closer you get. Please pray that those who have their homes near the mountains are able to get out safely! And please pray for those who can't breathe due to the smoke in the air (I had issues on the way to school). Here is news on the first fire, you can see more pictures here and on the second fire which is closer to my house.EDIT: If you live near the fires (either Lakeview Terrance or in Porter Ranch) and need to evacuated with your large animals like horses, you can take them to Pierce College in Woodland Hills. Cal State Northridge University and L.A. Mission College are closed.
Moving on...
I had a VERY interesting experience at confessions on Saturday. I was waiting for an HOUR to get confessed because there was an unusually high number of people there. I think the Lord wanted me to wait it out (I usually don't if the lines are that long) because this older woman started talking to me about her experiences. I asked her if she was in line to confess and she said she wasn't. She then told me that she'd gone in hopes to confess but since it had been several years since she last confessed. I sat in one pew and she sat behind me and we started talking about that. I tried my hardest to convince her to confess and brought up the point of how important it is because, what if you die with a mortal or venial sin? We spent maybe 20 minutes talking. She told me her story and all. Finally, when I went to the second line (the bilingual priest is faster), she got the courage to get in line with me and she confessed!! She went before me because, as she said, she didn't want to back out again. She later came by and said her goodbyes, giving me a hug and a kiss on the cheek "for everything". That made me feel happy! I'm so glad she went through it! :D Then an older man stood behind me and talked about how he hadn't been to that parish in 40 years (!!!) and we talked a bit about that and about confession. I've NEVER had that happen to me. Has any one? It was a very interesting, but very wonderful experience. :D
Alright, that's it for now. I know, so short! Go on and do a little happy dance! Haha. :D Hope everyone has a good week this week. As always, thanks for reading and God Bless.
4 comments:
Oh, Emmy, that's so neat! :D Wow, that fire looks scary. :(
Out of curiosity, how far away from San Francisco are you? Are you going to do Walk For Life in January?
It is! They had to close down part of the 118 and 5 freeways because it's so close to it.
No idea how far away I am. I haven't been north of Santa Barbara so I wouldn't know. What's the Walk for Life? I haven't heard of it.
Hm, that is dangerous. That happens a lot around this time, fires? I heard it on the news to, and Governor Arnold was preparing for evacuations or something. The firebrigad were protecting peoples houses as planes to drop off water came over.
Hm, well, no, that experience at Confession has never happened to be. I think the Lord used you in a marvelous way to touch those two people, especially the first one. Actually, I think the first person the Lord was to use you to touch her so that she would go to Confession and then the second one was to touch you in a way to show you that there is still hope for those who are away from the Church or do not even know God. I think the second person was there to give you hope, that good things are happening and that your prayers are worthwhile.
God Bless,
James:).
Yeah. We have fires like once a year around this month. Actually, last year, it was also on this same week that we had the last big fire. But this time it was much closer to home, which was scary.
Yeah, I definitely think that what happened at confession was a gift from God. I'm very grateful to have had those experiences. :D
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