It was the early thirties and the log business was booming. Fire started in the canyon and swept down the mountainside. The livelihood of the sawmiller’s family was at stake. Could he salvage enough from the burned timber to provide for his family? The Forest Service land that adjoined the family’s property suffered damage, too. The fire kill trees needed to be cleaned up. The Forest Service made an offer to Ward & Parker Sawmill to harvest the dead trees on Forest Service soil. They sawed the trees on three sides and sold them as house logs. The thing is, the fire did not compromise the worth of the timber. In fact, the fire cured timber wouldn’t twist or bow. The heat caused the sap to harden and actually strengthened the trees and made them more valuable. Logs were sold for ranch houses, bunk houses, and other ranch buildings. Hope grew from the ashes of devastation.
Sawmill
Fires of adversity, sickness and uncertainty consume us and yet, they make us stronger. Hope rises from the ashes of fear. God’s light shines through the firestorm as neighbor reaches out to neighbor and strangers work together to help one another. It may be someone simply taking food to a widow or a health care provider placing themselves in harm’s way to care for another. Hope often comes in the most unlikely of places and in the hardest of times. Bloom where you are planted.
Hope grows in unlikely places