After a family lost their house to fire, someone asked a child how she was doing without her home; the child replied, “Oh! We have a home; we just need a house to put it in.” Where we live ought to be a place of safety and sanctity. Safety from destruction is better planned pre-insurance claims. In that vein, three things I learned from a fireman’s presentation are:
1. When you are using a fire extinguisher, focus the funnel of the extinguisher hose at the base of the fire, not the top of the blaze.
2. Have a clear distance between your house and flammables. Keep pine straw swept away from the circumference of your home.
3. Clearly mark your house numbers in reflective ink. When emergency personnel are dispatched, without house numbers, speeding tires come to a too premature halt. Searching for the house delays response time.
How does this relate to relationships? Fires typically start from unnoticed, unremarkable accumulations of debris. The best way to resolve fire potential is to pay attention. Like Smokey Bear says, “Only You Can Prevent Forest Fires.” Notice when disagreeableness is accumulating in your house. Keep a safe distance from potential combustibles. Clearly distinguish your familial boundaries. Fire is predictable and preventable.
Be careful what influences you allow near your mind. Even a person who is insulin dependent cannot eat everything they may want, so can a human being not afford to embrace all thoughts that come through the mind. Families who becomes careless with their thought processes can lose their way… their home.
“The strength of a nation derives from the integrity of the home,” – Confucius
