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Our dearest friends, Guy and Lebra Gonzalez, and their two children Gabe and Ava (who are like family to us), have recently lost everything due to the Carr fire that swept our city. Guy and Lebra evacuated their home in Lake Redding Estates with literally about 3 minutes to spare. Their home was one of the first to be engulfed in the tornado of flames. Their crazy story of how close their escape was just makes us so thankful that they are all safe and sound.
Guy and Lebra are the most selfless people we know. They are the kind of people that will drop anything and everything to help another out and we have seen this time and time again. I don’t think they have ever met a stranger as they are kind and helpful to everyone they come in to contact with.
The evening their home was destroyed Lebra and I were talking and she was so calm. I asked her why she was so calm and she said “God’s PEACE is truly beyond understanding.” She also told me that she knew “God would see them through this storm”. They are looking at this tragedy as a NEW BEGINNING. What a GREAT attitude! They literally lost everything! Our God is so comforting when we trust His greater plan!
Here is the testimony Lebra gave at church as she led worship on her violin on Sunday (two days after she watched her home go up in flames). Here is her great story of HOPE and BEAUTY from ASHES…
God is showing me that our lives are like a giant jigsaw puzzle with a lifetime of little pieces that need to be put together in order to see the complete picture… When you work on a jigsaw puzzle you get a few pieces put together here and there, but you can’t see the picture they are creating. Time goes on and more pieces come together, but they too, do not reveal the beautiful picture yet to come. Years may pass, life goes on, and one day you discover the missing puzzle piece that connects the puzzle together and you finally see the picture God has created for your life.
Since losing our beautiful home, I’m now able to see clearly “the missing piece” of God’s hand on my life.
Seven years ago, I lead a women’s Bible study group at church and there was a young mom, Brooke, that I became friends with. She and her husband BJ were about to move into their new home. Though we had only known each other for a very short time, I offered up my husband and myself to help them with the move. (Guy had never even met them, but was happy to help!). They were so thankful for our help because we were about the only ones that showed up to help that day. They never forgot what a blessing we were to them in their time of need. We’ve remained friends all these years but from that day on, never really spent much time at their home. “Puzzle pieces” that were put together and sat unconnected from the complete picture for years....
Fast forward seven years to Thursday, August 26th. By evening a tornado of 143 mph winds mixed with fire would come out of nowhere and ravage our entire neighborhood. That morning for no logical reason BJ began to feel God’s calling for him to get in touch with Guy. It seemed odd, perhaps even silly, why Guy? Why now? BJ tried to dismiss it, but the sense of URGENCY to reach out to Guy was insistent and so after work he did. The conversation was brief and out of the blue BJ told Guy that if we ever needed a place to stay in the event we were evacuated we could stay with them. Little did BJ know, those words he said casually were prophetic because within 2 minutes of him saying that, I called Guy to hurry home because the power had just gone out. There were no evacuation orders and no sirens. With the power out, our home was actually peacefully silent. The only sound I could hear was a helicopter overhead dropping water over our house. It made no sense to me why a helicopter would be overhead collecting water from the river when there was no indication or reports of the fire being anyway near us. Living at the top of a hill with acres of wilderness behind our home, there was no way to see that the fire was already nearly at our back door. Guy could see the flames as he raced home at 100 miles an hour, blasting through 3 police barricades to save Ava and me. As soon as Guy arrived home, the evacuation call came and the police followed him yelling for us to evacuate immediately! With the power off, I had no idea how to get my car out of the garage. If Guy had not arrived literally the minute he did, we would have not made it out in time. Within 3 minutes, we could see our home was engulfed in flames.
God knew we would be evacuated and would need a place to stay and recover in the days ahead. BJ listened to God and reached out to Guy. Because of that, we had a safe place to go. “Puzzle pieces”...Seven years ago we were helping our new friends move into their home....Seven years later, our friends are moving US into their home.
Like the rest of the Carr Fire survivors, we now look at time as the days “before” the fire and the days “after” the fire. One day at a time we are slowly, exhaustingly, learning how to pick up the charred pieces of our lives, and trying to embrace this as a New Beginning. We are relearning how to put one foot in front of the other and moving forward. We can rest because we know God is in control. We are looking for the good. We even laugh because I no longer complain about having to do housework and Guy is excited that his long “Honey-Do” List is gone. There is a strange sense of freedom in suddenly having nearly nothing left to your name and being completely surrendered to God’s will. God has proven himself so generous in HIS outpouring of blessings upon our lives. When you have nothing, suddenly everything becomes a blessing. They say a person is not wealthy until they have things that money cannot buy. We have never felt more rich in God’s PEACE, PROTECTION, PROVISION, COMFORT, and even JOY! This is all accomplished because of our surrendering to Jesus in our hearts and lives. He died for our sins and by the power of God rose again. When we open our hearts to Him, He makes us NEW inside and puts the Holy Spirit in our hearts. Without Jesus in your life I know that makes absolutely no sense and seems absolutely crazy, but it’s true and we are living proof! In the middle of this storm we are declaring God’s GOODNESS in our lives!!
Guy and Lebra have been flooded by calls and texts asking how they can help. We thought a GO-FUND-ME is the best way you can help them. They have found a home to live in and will need to fill it with the necessities. Guy lost most of his big tools he uses for work as a building contractor and his truck. Both Guy and Lebra are self-employed and have not been able to work since the fire because of all the business that needs to be taken care of to put their lives back together as quickly as possible. We are asking that you would join us in showering Guy and Lebra with love and support the way I know they would do if any of us ever needed it.
Guy and Lebra are the most selfless people we know. They are the kind of people that will drop anything and everything to help another out and we have seen this time and time again. I don’t think they have ever met a stranger as they are kind and helpful to everyone they come in to contact with.
The evening their home was destroyed Lebra and I were talking and she was so calm. I asked her why she was so calm and she said “God’s PEACE is truly beyond understanding.” She also told me that she knew “God would see them through this storm”. They are looking at this tragedy as a NEW BEGINNING. What a GREAT attitude! They literally lost everything! Our God is so comforting when we trust His greater plan!
Here is the testimony Lebra gave at church as she led worship on her violin on Sunday (two days after she watched her home go up in flames). Here is her great story of HOPE and BEAUTY from ASHES…
God is showing me that our lives are like a giant jigsaw puzzle with a lifetime of little pieces that need to be put together in order to see the complete picture… When you work on a jigsaw puzzle you get a few pieces put together here and there, but you can’t see the picture they are creating. Time goes on and more pieces come together, but they too, do not reveal the beautiful picture yet to come. Years may pass, life goes on, and one day you discover the missing puzzle piece that connects the puzzle together and you finally see the picture God has created for your life.
Since losing our beautiful home, I’m now able to see clearly “the missing piece” of God’s hand on my life.
Seven years ago, I lead a women’s Bible study group at church and there was a young mom, Brooke, that I became friends with. She and her husband BJ were about to move into their new home. Though we had only known each other for a very short time, I offered up my husband and myself to help them with the move. (Guy had never even met them, but was happy to help!). They were so thankful for our help because we were about the only ones that showed up to help that day. They never forgot what a blessing we were to them in their time of need. We’ve remained friends all these years but from that day on, never really spent much time at their home. “Puzzle pieces” that were put together and sat unconnected from the complete picture for years....
Fast forward seven years to Thursday, August 26th. By evening a tornado of 143 mph winds mixed with fire would come out of nowhere and ravage our entire neighborhood. That morning for no logical reason BJ began to feel God’s calling for him to get in touch with Guy. It seemed odd, perhaps even silly, why Guy? Why now? BJ tried to dismiss it, but the sense of URGENCY to reach out to Guy was insistent and so after work he did. The conversation was brief and out of the blue BJ told Guy that if we ever needed a place to stay in the event we were evacuated we could stay with them. Little did BJ know, those words he said casually were prophetic because within 2 minutes of him saying that, I called Guy to hurry home because the power had just gone out. There were no evacuation orders and no sirens. With the power out, our home was actually peacefully silent. The only sound I could hear was a helicopter overhead dropping water over our house. It made no sense to me why a helicopter would be overhead collecting water from the river when there was no indication or reports of the fire being anyway near us. Living at the top of a hill with acres of wilderness behind our home, there was no way to see that the fire was already nearly at our back door. Guy could see the flames as he raced home at 100 miles an hour, blasting through 3 police barricades to save Ava and me. As soon as Guy arrived home, the evacuation call came and the police followed him yelling for us to evacuate immediately! With the power off, I had no idea how to get my car out of the garage. If Guy had not arrived literally the minute he did, we would have not made it out in time. Within 3 minutes, we could see our home was engulfed in flames.
God knew we would be evacuated and would need a place to stay and recover in the days ahead. BJ listened to God and reached out to Guy. Because of that, we had a safe place to go. “Puzzle pieces”...Seven years ago we were helping our new friends move into their home....Seven years later, our friends are moving US into their home.
Like the rest of the Carr Fire survivors, we now look at time as the days “before” the fire and the days “after” the fire. One day at a time we are slowly, exhaustingly, learning how to pick up the charred pieces of our lives, and trying to embrace this as a New Beginning. We are relearning how to put one foot in front of the other and moving forward. We can rest because we know God is in control. We are looking for the good. We even laugh because I no longer complain about having to do housework and Guy is excited that his long “Honey-Do” List is gone. There is a strange sense of freedom in suddenly having nearly nothing left to your name and being completely surrendered to God’s will. God has proven himself so generous in HIS outpouring of blessings upon our lives. When you have nothing, suddenly everything becomes a blessing. They say a person is not wealthy until they have things that money cannot buy. We have never felt more rich in God’s PEACE, PROTECTION, PROVISION, COMFORT, and even JOY! This is all accomplished because of our surrendering to Jesus in our hearts and lives. He died for our sins and by the power of God rose again. When we open our hearts to Him, He makes us NEW inside and puts the Holy Spirit in our hearts. Without Jesus in your life I know that makes absolutely no sense and seems absolutely crazy, but it’s true and we are living proof! In the middle of this storm we are declaring God’s GOODNESS in our lives!!
Guy and Lebra have been flooded by calls and texts asking how they can help. We thought a GO-FUND-ME is the best way you can help them. They have found a home to live in and will need to fill it with the necessities. Guy lost most of his big tools he uses for work as a building contractor and his truck. Both Guy and Lebra are self-employed and have not been able to work since the fire because of all the business that needs to be taken care of to put their lives back together as quickly as possible. We are asking that you would join us in showering Guy and Lebra with love and support the way I know they would do if any of us ever needed it.
Organizer and beneficiary
Lebra Gonzalez
Beneficiary