David Meigs is a novelist with a background in youth outreach, specializing in ministry to at-risk youth and their families. Though his writing is enjoyed by all ages, his novels provide a unique, life-changing quality, critical for the youth of today. David and his family lives in Seabeck, Washington, where he serves his church as youth pastor.

I know what you are thinking. So here it is February, and almost Valentine’s Day, so naturally you assumed that I would highlight one of the many delightful inspirational romance novels releasing this month. And that is exactly what I was planning to do until certain events unfolded in my life and I thought that a slight detour was in order.

Since our home burned down a year ago, I have often received queries from many of you asking for some kind of report on the replacement of our home. Unfortunately, there had been no news to report. That is no news until now. But first, I must back up and start at the beginning. As strange as this may sound, there is a beautiful side to our tragedy, and I would not want any readers who might be new to this column to be left in the dark. I promise to keep this brief.

On December 22, 2008, our autistic son, John (then sixteen), had been playing with matches, catching his bed on fire, and our home burned to the ground. Fortunately, save for a few minor injuries, everyone made it out alive. Within a few short hours after the fire, after the world around us stopped spinning, my family and I sat huddled together in a strange motel, still very much in a state of shock. That night, from that motel room, I sent out a few e-mails to precious friends, asking for prayer.

One of those e-mails was sent to Bonnie Calhoun, my dear friend, as well as our illustrious magazine founder, and a second e-mail to Annie McDonald, a friend, precious saint, and also our ACFW Northwest Zone Director. What happened next absolutely blew me away. An overwhelming outpouring of love and support came in from all around the world. Annie called me the next morning to tell me that gifts were already coming in. Thank you to all of you who gave or prayed for us. God bless you!

In the twelve months that have passed since the fire, we have seen one miracle after another; but we have also seen our share of setbacks and trials. It took three months for the last of the snow to melt before we could start the slow process of

demolishing the old structure and then finding a replacement home. Unfortunately for us, every deal we tried to put together seemed to go up in a puff of smoke. Spring turned into summer and summer into fall, and then winter came knocking at the door before we finally struck gold.

I am delighted to report that on December 22, 2009, exactly one year to the day, the bank funded our construction loan to build our new home. That’s right, one year to the day. God’s timing is perfect. The new house won’t be a mansion, by any stretch of the imagination, but it will be a nice house and just the right size for our family. Each of the kids will have a bedroom of their own, and we will even have a covered porch, where I can sit and drink coffee, and hopefully even get a little writing done.

The first picture is of our old home in the final minutes of burning to the ground. The second picture is taken from the new building site on the back side of our property. What you can’t see behind all those clouds are the beautiful Olympic Mountains. What you can see toward the bottom of the picture are some blue tarps covering our old 1977 motor home and two other smaller camper trailers where our older boys sleep. After all these months of camping on our property, we are eager for the new house to be built.

Thank you to all of you who have so lovingly sent us words of encouragement, prayers and support. God bless you all!