My school is burning. And it’s not just my school. It’s our school. Anna’s school. Corinne’s school. Jonathan’s school and Katie and Allison and Matt and Mikey, and Emily and Meg and Jenny and Amy…and all of us. Thousands of us. Westmont is home. And tonight, it is burning.
My heart is heavy. It has slipped further and further into my stomach. My eyes hurt from keeping them focused on the computer as I flip between news sites, trying to find out what has or has not burned.
I know this place is so much more than the buildings. It’s more than the ocean views, and the lush trees, and the lovely prayer chapel where I ran to Jesus so many times. More than the little pond where I once kissed Jonathan in the pouring rain. More than the windy steep roads, the big stable rock, the grass where we had Rhetoric. This place is where I hold cherished memories of late night conversations with giggly girls, where I began to grow up, where I met my husband.
I am scared that memories may be all that we have left of some special, sacred spots on that campus but I know that Westmont is the community that has already come together tonight, united in hope that God can do great miracles.
Please keep praying…
photo credit to Ray Ford at http://www.sb-outdoors.org/fire/
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
You write such beautiful poetic words. I have never been there, but I see it clearly. How sad….
So sorry. Places that have impacted your heart never really leave your heart.
Wow – small world! I didn’t go to Westmont, but I was affected by the Tea Fire because I live in Las Barrancas. My roommate is a professor. It was an intense, scary experience, and I’m SO blessed to be in one of the houses still standing. Anyway, thanks again for the 20SB add! I’m putting you in my Google Reader right now.