a testimony by Kari Kaus
My name is Kari Kaus and I have been attending Calvary with my husband Josh and our girls Savannah and Grace for about six years.
November 8, 2018 became a day I would never forget. It was a chilly day, so my husband loaded firewood into our wood burning furnace, as he had for years. With a newborn in the house, I woke feeling groggy from middle of the night feedings and gave him a quick kiss goodbye. He said to me, “I loaded up the fire box, so the house will be nice and warm for you girls today”. I debated going back to bed in our master bedroom, where our newborn baby Grace was fast asleep. Instead, I decided to stay up and sit with our four-year-old who was enjoying a bowl of cereal. I looked out the window and saw dark black smoke, rolling off the roof of the house. It didn’t look the way the woodsmoke usually looked, and there was way too much of it. I stepped onto our deck to look at the house from the outside, and my heart sunk. The house was on fire.
The image of rolling smoke pouring out of the soffit the entire length of the house is etched in my mind forever. The kids and I were in our pajamas, with no time to change. I raced to my master bedroom where Grace was sound asleep, picked her up, and together the three of us girls ran outside, calling both Josh (who was just at the end of our long driveway) and 911. The next moments are a bit of a blur, but somehow we ended up parked in our long front yard, watching the house burn.
The 31 minutes it took for the rural volunteer fire department to arrive after I placed a call to 911 felt like forever, long after news crews and sheriff’s deputies had been on scene. We watched in horror as the smoke continued to roll, and then the bright orange glow of the flames became visible in every window of our entire house. We watched, helplessly. Then, the antenna toppled over as the flaming roof collapsed into the bedroom that had only moments before held our precious newborn baby girl.
The aftermath of the fire was messy, exhausting, time-consuming, and labor intensive. I will never forget the terrible smell or the remnants of our charred home. However, the fruit this bore in our lives was worth it all. I will share with you a few journal entries from after our fire that capture the reflections of my soul as I experienced growth in the permanent realm through loss of possessions that were only ever meant to be temporary.
11-14-18 Jesus says the birds of the air and the lilies of the valley do not worry about their needs being met. I now understand this in a much deeper way. We had nothing but the clothes on our backs last Thursday. I didn’t get my purse, the diaper bag, the carseat: nothing. Yet, that very same day, people brought us clothes and shoes. The first night after the fire, I had such a hard time falling asleep. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw smoke. Billowing, devouring, dark, dangerous, terrorizing, destructive, rolling smoke. It was so disturbing. I called on Jesus through Emmanuel prayer and he answered my plea for help. I have slept peacefully every night since.
11-19-18 I am so thankful that God allowed our house to catch fire, and allowed us to escape safely. I am learning so much; I really need so little to be content. With just a few outfits to wear, not even enough for each day of the week, we are so joyfully happy! I feel as though we truly have plenty; we have never been lacking. It really is an amazing thing to experience losing all earthly possessions in one day. Fire is so destructive! I had no idea that even what didn’t burn would be ruined by toxic smoke. I am grateful because I feel as though the weight of the world is lifted, and my soul feels freer than ever. Ultimately, I am nothing but a soul, an eternal soul, temporarily inhabiting a body and this body shall one day perish as all of our belongings did in the fire; therefore I must not cling too tightly to this world. I feel so privileged that God would allow me to experience this freedom, that I can count it joy to experience this trial, because this testing of my faith produces perseverance.
11-26-18 This morning we received a bill for several thousand dollars from the fire department. Insurance only covers $500. The mail came, and the gifts we received from checks covered the bill! A young man, age 19 from church gave us $500! Thank you, God, for providing for this need!
I want to share just a few other ways God’s sovereignty was demonstrated in this fire. Our four-year-old and I had practiced fire safety days before the fire. The Rochester fire department has open houses at their fire stations in early October each year, which we attended. We took home every resource for talking to kids about fire safety, and we practiced escaping. Though I still cannot believe this actually happened, I am thankful we were prepared and had practiced what to do. Second, the wood furnace had been burning all night long as we slept, but the house wasn’t devoured until after we were awake. Third, the day of our fire, I had a pre-scheduled counseling appointment with a Christian counselor to help me process returning to work, as I was scheduled to return after maternity leave the following week. It turns out, she and her spouse had also experienced and recovered from a devastating house fire, and she was a great help to me. There were many other ways that God’s love and care for us was demonstrated in every small detail of this big event. Most certainly, He allowed this fire to happen for our good.
I kept a journal to record the overwhelming kindness and generosity we received after the fire. Each act of kindness is recorded here. Thank you to the many families of Calvary noted here who helped us get through this challenging time. Your gift still refreshes me today as I read this record and feel awe anew for God’s provision through your care.
I will close with a few verses that resonated with me through this experience. Surely, I gained far more value in developing a deeper understanding of these verses through this experience than I ever lost in tangible possessions, and it was worth every single tear.
“And he said to them, ‘Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.’”
Luke 12:15
“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? 28 And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, 29 yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 33But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
Matthew 6:25-34
1 thought on “Trial by fire: we have a treasure in the heavens that does not fail ”
My dear Kari, the story moves me still today. Even though we were with you step by step, it moves me and inspires me how God used this to teach you, and us too, many good lessons. Mostly, dad and I are so, so thankful that He allowed for all of you to live! And even Daisy the dog!