Story by Joseph J. Mazzella (Author)
In the summer of my eleventh year the home I had grown up in burned to the ground in the middle of the night. Thankfully, my Mom, Dad, Nana, brothers, and I escaped along with our dogs. Yet, we had nothing but the night clothes we were sleeping in. I spent the rest of that night with friends of our family trying unsuccessfully to sleep in a bed in their attic. I was too scared to doze off, though. I didn’t know what lay ahead for us. And even though I had little faith at the time I said a prayer asking God to watch over and help my family.
The next day my Mom brought me a few t-shirts and pairs of jeans given to her by another friend. One pair of them was too short and the other pair too long but I didn’t care. At least I had some clothes again. Meanwhile my Dad had returned to blackened wreckage of our home to see what he could find. The only thing he could save was my Mom’s wedding rings. The plastic case she had put them in that night had melted around them and shielded them from the flames.
As the summer days wore on my Dad was able to rent us a dusty old house by the side of the road near where our old house had been. As we moved in I watched as family, friends, our church, and our community continued to donate all they could to help us get back on our feet. There were more clothes, furniture, food, money, and even some books for me to read. It took me a while but I finally realized that God had answered my prayer. He had watched over and helped my family through the loving hearts of those around us.
Looking back now I am grateful for all we went through that Summer because it taught me so much about life, love, and people. It showed me that when you have nothing left but love, for the first time you see that love is enough. May you always have “Enough” then for all the days of your life here.
