This is a testimony of a miracle which has just happened in the early hours of this morning. My family has just been spared from a potential fire disaster. God is truly marvellous!
At about 2.30am this morning 21st Dec 2002, Veronica was woken up by the cries of our second daughter, Rachel. She noticed a strong burning smell. Thinking that it was the aircon, she switched it off, open the windows, and woke me up. When I awoke, I ran to the kitchen immediately, because I remembered that I was boiling some water the night before. It has been almost 5 hours since I started boiling the water. I didn't know what to expect. Will there be a fire in the kitchen? Will there be an explosion?
Amazingly, there was no fire in the kitchen, no explosion. I reached out to turn off the gas, and saw that the kettle was covered with a brown substance. It was what was left of the knob of the kettle cover. The knob, which also houses the whistling mechanism, used to be 2" long, 1" high, and about 2cm wide, but has completely melted and flowed down the sides of the kettle, like the way lava flows out of a volcano. Needless to say, the water in the kettle has evaporated completely. I did not notice if the fire on the stove was there when I turned off the gas, but as I reflect now, I think the fire was already out before I turned off the gas. This was because the stove and the surrounding area and in fact the whole kitchen was not hot at all when I first dashed into the kitchen; yes, not hot at all despite the plastic having melted completely, despite the kettle being heated for the last 5 hours. Amazingly again, there was no smell of gas in the kitchen at all. In fact, the burning smell was hardly present in the kitchen, but somehow was thick and concentrated in our living room (that's probably how the smell first entered our bedroom, since our bedroom windows were shut).
The night before, Friday 20th Dec 2002, I was tired after a whole day's work. However, after a shower at about 11pm, I felt rather energized, and in fact took out a book which I was planning to read later. It was then that I started boiling the water. By this time, Veronica and the kids were in bed already. I went into the bedroom, took a good look at them, and prayed for the whole family as usual, asking God to watch over us through the night, and for His presence to be felt throughout the house. Although I was fresh and energetic just a short while ago before I started praying, I somehow fell asleep immediately after prayer. That, was how this whole episode started.
God's timely and miraculous intervention was obvious several times throughout this episode. The very fact that we are alive and unharmed is a result of God's miracle. When Veronica and I sat down to pray a short while ago, giving thanks to God for his grace, we also discussed and considered several facts, and concur that this has been a miracle no less. Why?
- The fire on the stove appeared to have been snuffed out before I turned off the gas, but there appeared to be no gas leakage.
- The plastic knob must have melted under very high temperatures because it flowed down the sides of the kettle and covered most of it, but nothing around the stove was burnt or caught fire.
- The kitchen was well ventilated and didn't smell of burning, but the smell somehow found its way through the living room into our bedroom.
- We were heavily asleep, and Veronica had a stuffy nose that night, but little Rachel apparently caught the burning smell and woke up crying.
Praise be to our Lord God Almighty!
Amen,
Thomas
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