Dryer on Fire!

     I was working in the kitchen a few days ago, and when I walked into the living room, I smelled smoke--fresh smoke. I quickly stepped outside and sniffed the air to see if the smell was coming from out there, but it definitely was not. As I stepped back inside and walked toward the hallway, the smell became stronger. I must have had a rather urgent/panicky sound to my voice when I called my husband because he came running immediately. My son, Keith, put his sense of smell to work and found the source of the acrid smell was coming from the dryer which is in the hall closet and was running at the time. Daryl pulled the blanket out of the dryer and smoke began curling out of the seams of the dryer. The next few minutes were hectic as we began to fill pitchers of water to pour on the fire which could be seen below the lint filter. Finally, the fire appeared to be doused, but as Daryl, James, and William worked to disconnect the dryer from the cords and hoses, the fire kicked up again and wasn't totally extinguished until the boys got it out of the apartment.
     Throughout the afternoon I heard comments from all of us like, "Aren't you glad it happened while we were home?" or "Just imagine if we had been sleeping" and even "Well, when we move, it will be one less thing to haul."  Even today as we were taking a load of laundry to dry at the dryer in our apartment complex, James said, "I sure am glad there is a dryer here!" We aren't perfect people by any stretch of the imagination and there are many times when we complain when we shouldn't and aren't thankful when we should be, but I sure liked it that not once did I hear anyone complain about the fact that we had a fire, that the floor had to shop vacced, and that we no longer have a dryer. Being thankful sure changes a person's attitude and outlook. God sure must be pleased when we are thankful even in difficult times.